News Analysis
By David W. Virtue
www.virtueonline.org
3/14/2010
The Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church recently gave the keynote address to the Diocese of New Jersey's diocesan convention and delivered herself of the following observations.
KJS: The Episcopal Church is growing - in a few places. In the last year, four United States dioceses grew both in average worship attendance and baptized membership: Navajoland, North Dakota, Wyoming, and Alabama. Most of our overseas dioceses are growing numerically. The rest are shrinking, either slightly or precipitously.
VOL: Mrs. Jefferts Schori should be embarrassed to announce that the Diocese of Navajoland has grown, bearing in mind that its last real bishop was accused of and admitted to having sexual relations with his nephew. Bishop Steven Plummer later died.
Here are the actual figures:
In Navajoland, total membership in 2007 was 583. In 2008 it was 612, a growth of 29 persons. Actual ASA in 2007 was 190. In 2008 it was 200, a real growth of 10 persons.
In North Dakota in 2007, total membership was 2,582. By 2008 it was 2,596, an increase of 14 persons. In 2007 the ASA was 758. It rose by 46 to 804 in 2008.
In Wyoming, total membership was 7,319 in 2007. By 2008 the figure was 7,385, an increase of 66. ASA figures for 2007 were 2,123. By 2008 it was 2,220, an increase of 97.
In Alabama, total membership in 2007 was 32,341. By 2008 it had risen to 32,406, an increase of 65. ASA figures for 2007 were 10,526. By 2008 there were 10,585, an increase of 59.
Total ASA for all four dioceses was 212. This church growth is worth mentioning? She should be ashamed to even let this bit of news out.
From 1998 to 2008 in Alabama, the overall ASA decline was 863 or -8%. For North Dakota in the same period, it was zero percent. For Wyoming, the decline was 563 or -20% In Navajoland, the loss was 101 or -34%
Total TEC ASA in 2007 was 727822
Total ASA in 2008 was 705257
Total overall ASA net Loss was 22,565
For the last 10 years all dioceses, except South Carolina, declined in membership and ASA. And the Presiding Bishop is proud of those numbers?
During the same period of time, The Anglican Province of Nigeria consecrated 10 new archbishops to keep up with the growth of new dioceses in that country. Hundreds of thousands were added to the church in the newly formed dioceses. This is in a country and a church faced by fanatical Muslims who just last week slaughtered 500 Christians in Jos.
In the last two years since the birth of the Anglican Church in North America, this new orthodox province has more than 100,000 active members in some 30 dioceses. During this same time, TEC went into a steep numerical decline.
KJS: There are lots of reasons why this is happening. It's not primarily about theological differences, for we grew slightly in the late 1990s. The decline began about the year 2000, well before the election in New Hampshire.
VOL: Not true. It IS about theological differences. It was in the year 2000 that the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMIA) was launched. They have peeled off tens of thousands of former Episcopalians, contributing to the overall decline of TEC. The issues were precisely theological, being both doctrinal and moral.
KJS: Conflict in the church doesn't help, but that's only a small part of the story. There are cultural components - even in the Bible Belt. There is no longer the assumption and expectation that everyone is in church on Sunday morning. Soccer games, Starbucks, and lots of other things happen then. The fastest growing religious affiliation in the United States is "none of the above." That includes 16% of all adults, but one-quarter of 18-29 year olds. One-quarter have no religious affiliation.
VOL: A giant half-truth. The "cultural components" Mrs. Jefferts Schori alludes to have seen the church decline, but this is largely the end result of a failed "social gospel" promulgated in the 50s by the mainline denominations. They declared war on the historic gospel and have paid the ultimate price for this. She fails to mention the fact that some 60 million Evangelicals still abound in the US, with many thousands of young people filling evangelical seminaries even as her own seminaries go into decline over pansexuality and capitulate to the culture.
KJS: For a long time, this Church depended on evangelism by reproduction. We brought new Episcopalians with us when we came to Church - they were our children. With the average Episcopalian now 57 years old, we're not bringing so many little ones any more. The average American is 37, which may begin to give you an idea of how skewed our population is.
VOL: If she really believes in "evangelism by reproduction" then that has clearly failed. The truth is there is no such thing as "evangelism by reproduction". Our children do not blindly go to church because we demand it of them. They must want to go to church because the message they want to hear is what they want to believe. Why go to church if the message is nothing but warmed over editorials from the New York Times, UN declarations or endless talk of MDGs? Furthermore the average age is not 57 years old it is closer to 65. Within a decade, they will all be gone. Thousands of churches will be up for sale, like they are now in the Diocese of British Columbia where they are being sold to art storeowners and other religions.
KJS: Episcopalians have long expected others to come and join us, either because of our reputation, our "class act" if you will, or by birth into the family. We have never learned to do active evangelism very well, because we didn't see the need. Most of us, that is, who are not represented in the evangelical wing of this church, have always understood the urgency. That's the part of this Church that has always found it hardest to stay in the diverse Anglican fold - maybe because the rest don't always understand the urgency.
VOL: Mrs. Jefferts Schori does not believe in The Great Commission represented by the evangelical wing of the church, she believes in MDGs. She publicly eschewed evangelicalism at the last General Convention by denouncing "personal faith" as heretical. How does she then think churches are expected to grow without persons of faith to make it happen and with a message of faith in Christ to proclaim?
KJS: This Church can grow - and the statistics back that up. We did grow in the late 1990s, when other mainline denominations were declining. We're growing in immigrant communities and overseas dioceses. The reality is that the church of this century is likely to look quite different than the church of 50 years ago or even 15 years ago. For one thing, if it's going to grow, it's going to be far less white - the fields are ripe for harvest, but not necessarily white for harvest. This church is 87% white; 6 % African-American, 3% Latino, 1% Asian, 1% Native American. The United States part of the church, that is. The U.S. population is significantly more diverse [two-thirds non-Latino white, 13% African-American, 15% Latino, 4% Asian, and 1% Native American], and New Jersey even more so. Native Americans are the only group represented at the same rate in The Episcopal Church as in the larger population. All other non-white populations are significantly under-represented.
VOL: This is pure fiction. Church figures revealed in the Red Book show massive decline. From a church of 3.5 million, TEC is now less than 2.2 million. Those are membership figures, not Average Sunday Attendance figures. Furthermore, all the mainline churches are in decline, slowly withering and dying. Pentecostalism has captured the imagination of Latinos even as Roman Catholicism feels the pinch. The Episcopal Church does not even get a look in against a prevailing evangelical mood among Latinos. The evangelical Anglican Diocese of Recife has doubled its membership while the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil, a clone of TEC, has gone into decline.
KJS: The theme of this convention is "go forth for God." It's not "sit here and wait for people to turn up for God." God tells Abram to "go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land I will show you" - God says, "Leave home." We have to be willing to leave our lovely churches, and walk out our beautiful red doors and discover God already at work in the larger community. The work that you're doing here in campus ministry is a great example. Younger generations are an invaluable part of this Church and are assets to it.
VOL: True, but you have to have a message. Mrs. Jefferts Schori and 95% of the Diocese of NJ don't have one. The priests there might just as well belch loudly in the Pine Barons with more hope of being heard and understood. By the way, if she really believes in folk leaving "our wonderful churches", perhaps she might consider selling them to orthodox priests in the ACNA they could use them in their quest to plant 1000 new churches in the next five years.
KJS: A dozen young adults, both women and men, are part of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women - the youth delegation - meeting in New York this week and next. They are asking wonderful questions about how to improve the lives of women, how to ensure women's reproductive rights. They are talking about the effects on women during wars, they are talking about war in general, they are talking about what to focus on here in the U.S., how the church can be a support for GLBTQ people, and they are talking about a whole raft of other things.
VOL: There you have it. It's all about women's reproductive rights, queer acceptance, "no change please, we're Episcopalians" and war. NO news of the life changing gospel message of Jesus Christ. God forbid.
KJS: When I asked what they would want the larger Church to know about them and their peers, they said things like, "we're passionate; we value and want to be in relationship with our elders; we are not just interested in technical communication like Facebook and texting - we want face-to-face relationships; we are Episcopalians because we find Episcopal spirituality fits us best, and we need more flexibility in worship." Many of them have become Episcopalians very recently, either by baptism or conversion from another tradition. They are idealistic and urgently interested in changing the world. Yet almost no one in this room is going to meet them by staying home.
If we really want to follow Jesus, we are going to have to leave home. That's a good part of what he means by saying, pick up your cross and follow me. It doesn't just mean you're going to have to suffer. It means get on the road, see new territory, and experience God in new situations. Leave your comfortably padded pew. Pick up your cross and see the world - from a new perspective. Have you ever thought about Jesus as a travel agent or tour guide? He is interested in leading us into new places.
VOL: "Travel agent"...."tour guide". Is she promoting an eco-tourist message of salvation? What about being evangelists and telling people the Good News about Jesus, or would she prefer the message of Ms. Ragsdale, president of Episcopal Divinity School and outspoken advocate of abortion and LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgender), who shouted "abortion is a blessing" in her first sermon to students and faculty. Perhaps that's the new Episcopal evangelism. Jesus sent his disciples out in pairs with a distinct message concerning His Father's kingdom. If the people would not listen, they were to shake the dust off their feet and go on to the next village. This is not the same message Mrs. Jefferts Schori is promoting. She wants acceptance by the culture.
KJS: One of the more effective evangelical tools right now does just that - it goes into the places where people spend time, at work and at leisure, and it gathers people who want to ask significant spiritual questions. Asking questions is actually something that sets Episcopalians apart from a lot of other traditions, particularly the ones who say there's only one right answer and doubt is a sin. Remember that bumper sticker, "Question Authority"? I've never been sure whether it's a description of somebody who's good at asking questions or a challenge to keep asking difficult questions of the powers that be. But asking questions is a central part of our tradition. We don't insist that doubt is a sin; we see doubt as necessary to growth.
VOL: Yep, question authority. And if you do question the authority of KJS and The Episcopal Church, you will hear from her attorney David Booth Beers and it won't be pleasant. Just ask Bishops Bob Duncan, Henry Scriven, Keith Ackerman, Jack Iker, John-David Schofield, Mark Lawrence, to name just a few. Four dioceses have questioned her authority. They are now spending millions of mission dollars questioning HER authority over property ownership.
KJS: Young people are hard-wired to ask questions - why? is the most characteristic word out of the mouth of a healthy developing child. 'Why should I do that, why is the stove hot, why aren't girls and boys always treated the same, why are some people poor, why has your generation left the world in such a mess, how can we bring peace to the world?' When we stop asking questions like that we begin to die - spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, and probably physically.
Building communities where young people can ask the really big questions is one of the most important kinds of evangelism we can do - and the other important kinds of evangelism are about building communities where others can do the same thing. Theology on tap is a prime example - it offers welcome and hospitality, including a brew (caffeinated or spirited), conversation, and community. It is happening in bars. It is happening in coffeehouses. It is happening where people gather. There are ways to gather questioners, a number of them focused on faith in the workplace. We have always gathered to ask questions. The women's guilds and men's guilds in the church did similar work, but they expected people to show up in the church building to gather. We need to leave home and go out there to provide hospitable places for questioners.
One of the most powerful witnesses to going forth is what's happening right now in Haiti. Almost all of the church buildings in the Diocese of Haiti have been destroyed in Port-au-Prince. The people of the Diocese are ministering to their members and their neighbors in the open air, offering hospitality to all comers. They haven't just been sent forth, they've been propelled, shaken out of their homes and churches, and Bishop Zache tells us so. He said in a letter that he sent out today: "Despite the difficulties we face, many of our parishes have grown larger since the earthquake, because more and more people trust our Church and are turning to us for help spiritually, socially, and morally."
VOL: We have questioned ourselves to death. No one has any answers at the national church level except to endorse pansexuality, abortion rights, MDGs. Furthermore, if it takes an earthquake at 815 Second Ave., NY, NY, to get the church back on track and thinking about the gospel, then bring it on.
KJS: Since 1785, the Diocese of New Jersey has provided transformative leadership and helped countless Episcopalians to live faithful lives. If you're going to be here 225 years from now, it means taking up your cross and following Jesus down the road. There are an awful lot of people out there who need an opportunity to ask important questions - young people, Spanish speakers, Chinese and Russian immigrants, and many people who need to know they are loved whether they ask questions or not. We have something very important to offer all of them. Even an esteemed elder of 225 years isn't too old to go out there and offer that kind of love and hospitality.
VOL: The Diocese of New Jersey will have long since ceased to exist 225 years from now. Churches will be archeological exhibits or the future equivalent of Starbucks and art stores...unless of course they have been bought by the ACNA where you will hear what the real gospel is. The rejoicing will be heard all the way to Nigeria where the same gospel is also being proclaimed.
END
No comments:
Post a Comment