(This isn't us at the Police College: God forbid!)
I was quite looking forward to this session as it was to focus on the congregation and mission and I was hoping for some insights into congregational dynamics. As it happened the first session was directed towards research methodology in preparation for in-house surveys. Not at all my scene, so aided on this occasion by St. Ipod and Bach played by Suha and Guher Pekinel on the piano, I settled into something of a private revery telling Monica to nudge me if I snored.
Nevertheless I picked up some gems: it is quite clear that the congregation is recognised as the local collective gathering and it has become the dominant form of the expression of religion and spirituality alongside and sometimes in competition with (often) fragmented systems of central hierarchy. One of the key questions seemed to be whether the local congregation knows its boundaries. It would be interesting - and challenging - to ask where the local congregation sees itself in relation to the wider institution. There has certainly been much discussion about the pronouncements of church leaders not being backed up by the masses in the pews. Is it even possible to offer a fair representation of a congregational community when internal expressions of value or belief are diverse or in disagreement with the mother institution?
I couldn't help at this point wondering, as an example, how Evangelicals deal with contemporary culture and where that leaves that congregation in the context of a more progressive religious environment. Is the church a beleagured enclave guarding orthodoxy or is it a thorn in the side of the wider church? It is in this context that we hear of whole congregations defecting to another church or witholding their parish contribution to the central coffers on a point of religious doctrine and principle.
The cultural shift of the late 1970s put the individual and his subjective experience as the new norm which doesn't sufficiently take into consideration the mediating structures the individual functions in, i.e. the local congregation or the wider central authority. Does this mean that we are more than usually likely to search for the congregation that most closely fits our worldview rather than sticking with the old denominational allegances? Is our sense of misiology linked to that? Does the congregation we attend reflect one of the standard models of mission and is that at odds with what the central authority sees as its mission model? How is this resolved?
2 comments:
Now it's my turn to say I really don't care. Grin.
I'm not sure how much of the last three paragraphs of your post is your own writing, or just a transcript of what the speaker said. But in any case, it's the kind of academic chatter that strokes the egos of Those In The Know - and does nobody else any good.
Yes, DP, in case you are sincerely wondering, church is and always has been as much social club as anything else. And yes, ever since a certain pissed-off monk nailed some other discussion items to a church door 500 years ago, people have been changing churches to suit their preferences. Surely this does not come as news either to you or the speaker, at this late date?
Which leaves those of us who don't fit in with any group out in the cold, and having to shift for ourselves the best we can, spiritually. Arcane words like "misiology" are rather less than helpful. The whole point of the church is to love other people, corporately and individually, but the track record on that is extremely spotty. Some would even say dismal, taking the entire record into account. But then social clubs exist to meet the needs of their members, not those who don't belong.
Which, if church were actually doing what it claims to be doing, more people would show up and go along for the ride. But if you aren't the Right Sort, or if you aren't an Approved Victim - most church people in most places would really rather you go somewhere else, or just stay home. I could tell you stories.
I think that about covers it. Any more questions I can answer for you, let me know.
Sitting at home licking our wounds won't solve anything. We have to be agents of change and we can only do that by being there.
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