Last night was a very special evening at Biblical Seminary. Sally Morgenthaler, emergent leader, author and teacher was engaging in conversation with the gathered group at MacRae's Place (former chapel).The conversation was eclectic and engaging, thought-provoking and challenging.
Here are some snippets of Sally's thoughts on the trends in today's American church culture:
- More Americans, all across the country, are leaving churches — many more that are joining them...
- Church capital campaigns are failing...
- Women are leaving churches in droves and taking the older women with them...
- Believers need to shift their presence from within the church building to out into the surrounding communities...
- Many large churches are deconstructing from the "big box" structure into smaller spaces where gatherings can be more intimate and conducive to conversation...
- There's been a radical shift in the full-time ministry scenario: pastors and ministry leaders should be bi-vocational, so that they can engage in "tent-making" for their basic income while ministering with their available time...
- Our seminaries need to prepare students for the realities and potentials of this radically changing shift in the Christian church culture...
- How do we help to accomplish this for our newly-trained ministry teams?
Leverage partnerships with other faith-based groups and non-profit organizations.
This may create challenges in some areas, but will network engagement within the community in others... - One key factor in today's emergent church is "sustainability": stewardship of our resources...
From there, the conversation began to become more focused on the concept of what "community" looks like in the Body of Christ today.
More on that and the impact Living Room has within this realm tomorrow...
Friday Evening's Event: Coffee and Conversation with Sally Morgenthaler
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