Survival – Revival – Thrival May 13, 2009
Posted by Dan R. Dick in Church Leadership, Congregational Life, Mission of the Church, The United Methodist Church.Tags: Church Leadership, Mission & Purpose, The United Methodist Church
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Yes, I know “thrival” isn’t a word, but it should be. We spend so much time in the church talking about ‘survivial’ and ‘revival’ that we forget to talk about what it would look like if we truly thrived. Last year, “…for the transformation of the world” got officially added to the mission of the church. Churches focusing on “survival” or personal “revival” aren’t going to transform much of anything. However, a thriving church has a lot to offer. Here are some things we first need to stop doing in order to make space to do some new (and old) things well that send a message of hope and vitality to the world.
Age Doesn’t Matter (That Much)
First, quit fixating on how old we’re getting. A new study this past week from the Lewis Center on Leadership compared death rates in churches with the national average. How exciting is that?? Mainline churches have a special appeal to older people — they have for generations. My mother was an elder in the Presbyterian Church and I have her notes from a 1965 sessions committee meeting where they were talking about the imminent demise of the church because the membership was so old… It’s still there, and doing fine (as fine as Presbyterian churches anywhere are doing).
Plus, there are some fantastically vibrant and strong churches with specialized ministries to older adults. You know the great thing about older adult ministries? There are more and more older adults all the time! More people with more and more time for socializing and supporting meaningful non-profit ministries. Churches comprised of 50+ aged members accomplish some amazing work in the name of Jesus Christ. Selling “older” short is dumb. Older is something we will all have in common, so we should seek ways to make the “older” church every bit as meaningful and relevant as church for younger generations.
