Here’s a new word to add to your vocabulary: permacrisis. It refers to “an extended period of instability and insecurity, especially one resulting from a series of catastrophic events.” The Collins Dictionary added it to their files in 2022 and declared it the word of the year. The word represents the compounding crises we have seen in recent years including inflation, the cost-of-living crisis, the pandemic, disastrous climate change, the war in Ukraine, and ongoing racial tensions.
Permacrisis may well take the place of the VUCA acronym—volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous—to describe our present-day situation.
Although it has been used in economic, social, and political contexts, the word might appropriately be applied to where we find the church in North America today. It appears that several crises are coming to a head for our churches. All denominations report that their congregants are aging, resulting in declining financial gifts. Post-pandemic surveys indicate a realignment of congregant participation and a decreasing number of volunteers. Many congregations find themselves polarized over political and social concerns. The church facilities built during the “aberrant time”[1] of the 1950s and 60s are increasingly a burden to maintain. With the end of Christendom, we find many people who are “spiritual but not religious.” Trust rating of clergy has declined significantly.
These challenges are not new. They have been developing over time; however, post-pandemic many of the comity agreements or balancing acts that kept them at bay in the local church have come unraveled-- finding leaders either unable or unwilling to find a new rapprochement.
Perhaps this is an opportune time for the church to supply something that few entities in our society can—hope. I believe this will come out of several things.
First, Thomas Kuhn points out that paradigm shifts in science develop out of crisis—the old idea no longer works, and something must take its place to restore stability. Crisis is not the end but the beginning of a new way of thinking. Perhaps the permacrisis in the church can push us into new ways of thinking.
Second, there are also positive trends that will help the church to move beyond the permacrisis. Gifted women and men continue to step up and assume leadership of our churches. Many are second career leaders who are hungry to learn and serve. Digital tools are available and new ones are emerging to help us minister in creative ways. There is still a deep hunger for the spiritual in our culture, but it may require us to dig deeper and move beyond traditionalism to traditioned innovation in expressions of our faith.
Third, we see manifestations of God at work in the world through changed lives and a desire to deepen relationships. Even many secular organizations are understanding the positive impact they can have on the world and are seeking partners to achieve that goal.
The church is no stranger to crisis, and we can depend on the Spirit of God to guide through each one that comes our way.
[1] Thanks to Jason Mack, pastor of Underwood Memorial Baptist Church, Wauwatosa, WI, for this reference from Gilbert Rendle’s book, Quietly Courageous: Leading the Church in a Changing World.
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