My thoughts on today's class session 10-24-11

My thoughts on today’s class session 10-24-11

I enjoyed connecting with other students and learning what their church planting experience has been as well as their innovative ideas for a possible new church plant.  One in particular that we discussed as a class, Be Real, Love in Action, Come in Unity, Encountering God. The concept that this group of believers live by a rule that unites them instead of the more traditional church membership is interesting to me.  I have been doing more research on the new monastic way of life as being a body of believers doing life together. In the US churches have become consumerist and definitely need to move to being participatory.  In the church I have been on staff with for 13 years, I can reflect on challenges of 80% of the work and giving is done by 20% of the people.  On one hand I can see how a hierarchy of leadership can create this, however, even as our leadership has struggled for the past 5 years to encourage, equip and empower the 80% to “participate or lead”, it still continues to be a problem.  Our current culture is too comfortable and a lot of them want to stay consumers.  Years ago, I took a course called “Crisis Evangelism”.  One quote I always remember is “Crisis clarifies”.  It seems to me that we are reaching that crisis point in the US that we must change if the church is to survive in the west.  So maybe crisis needs to happen to clarify how we need to change.