Barnabas File

Many in the church today look at the current situation and remember a “golden age” of church life.     Post World War Two the pews were filled, Sunday school classes overflowed with children, budgets were growing, the community was influenced by what the churches supported, seminaries were booming, and denominational bureaucracies were expanding.      Today, church members look around at empty pews, unused classrooms, diminishing resources, and an overall lack of relevance in the community around them. This disparity provokes grief, confusion, anger, and disillusionment.   In his Doctor of Ministry project at Central Seminary pastor Jason Mack pointed out that this “golden age” was an aberration.  Noting the work of Gil Rendle in  Quietly Courageous: Leading the Church in a Changing World,   he calls this “aberrant time.”   Postwar influence drove the population to be cohesive and common values were espoused.  Re...

Whoever has ears, let   the m hear what   the   Spirit   says   to   the   churches.  --Revelation 2:7a   Let’s be honest.  Many churches are in a state of disequilibrium.  Perhaps it has something to do with location, demographics, leadership, economics, or denominational strife.  Is there any church that is dealing with the same context it did twenty years ago?    Given our present situations, churches have choices.  Some will become “the church of diminished expectations” while others will become “the church of unlimited possibilities.”  What’s the difference?   In the church of diminished expectations, we hear the congregation saying:   ·        “I remember when . . ..”  Those who say this are looking to the past not to learn lessons, but as an excuse for the congregation’s present stagnation.   ·     ...

A friend and I meet for lunch every few months.     We were both raised in a large denomination where most of the churches are in the southern US.     We also were colleagues at a denominational entity.     As we talked about the denomination we once served, it was clear that he no longer considered himself or his church part of that denomination.     We both had chosen to distance ourselves from that denomination for different reasons.     One thing we agreed on was the fact that this denomination no longer placed the local church at the center of its mission.     It had become more concerned about control of institutions and political influence.   In the 21 st  century, the denominational brand is not as important as it once was.  Certainly, there are still those who, if they choose to be part of a local congregation, select one related to the denomination of their childhood tradition.  More ofte...

  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...

“ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”--1 Corinthians 12:27, NIV   For the past ten months, local congregations have wrestled with the question, “What does it mean to be the church--the body of Christ--when we cannot physically gather?“  It is first of all a theological question since the church often sees itself as the continuing incarnation of Jesus Christ in the world and gathering is a visible expression of that belief. Second, it is a sacramental issue based on your particular tribe’s understanding of the nature of communion, baptism, weddings, funerals, and other rituals of the church as communal events.  Third, it is an emotional issue exacerbated by isolation, stress, and loss.  Fourth, unfortunately, this has become a political issue that some have appropriated to sow division and discord.  Fifth, it is a very practical issue that affects ministry, stewardship, and institutional survival.   ...

Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, “Change is the only constant in life.     One’s ability to adapt to those changes will determine your success in life.” Few of us like change or, perhaps it is more accurate to say, “We don’t like being changed.”     I certainly don’t relish change, but I have found it to be a great motivator even if it is sometimes difficult to accept and endure.     First, change is painful.  It forces us to change our patterns of doing things, often getting outside of our comfort zone. Some of this is psychological--going against our personality type--but it can be emotional as well.  Losing a loved one or a job causes real pain.  Missing an opportunity hurts.  Seeing the failure of something in which you have invested time and energy is hard to take.   Second, change is normal.  The world is not static.  People are certainly not predictable.   As so...

In a recent post, I stated that most churches will settle for being “good” rather than “great.”  So what does a great church look like?  I am not talking about numbers.  Being a great church has nothing to do with numbers—people attending, services offered, funds received.  A great church is characterized by the willingness of its members and leaders to pursue certain tasks. A great church both prays to God and listens for God’s response.  Great churches have members who are willing to lay their concerns, hopes, and fears before God and to be patient enough to listen for an answer.  This means that the church is willing to hold everything loosely —ministries, budgets, leaders—and place it all in God’s hands. A great church values its people as their number one resource whether they are children, adults, or retired people.  A concerted effort is made not only to teach the Bible but to apply it to life.  Leaders listen to members and disc...

One of the realities of church life in the 21 st  century is networking that is not tied to or limited by a particular denominational affiliation.     As churches identify and pursue their unique callings as part of the mission of God, they discover partners who can help them along the journey.     These may be missional partners, advocacy partnerships, or developmental networks. Pinnacle Leadership Associates has developed such a network to facilitate congregational and leadership development.  The network is currently made up of over 30 partners--church and judicatories--from seven denominational families. Becoming a partner allows access to all Pinnacle webinars, plus these services: Four  one-hour Coaching/Consulting Sessions - In person, by phone, or video conference; 20% discount on all Pinnacle Services; Participation in any Pinnacle Webinar or Teleconference at no cost; Participation in Monthly Network Video Conference ...

I had the opportunity to join Pinnacle colleague Mark Tidsworth last weekend in a workshop for the South Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).    As I introduced myself to the group, I said: “We believe that the church is not only going to survive but prosper.” I sincerely believe this, but the caveat is that the church that is going to survive may not necessarily be the church as you know it now.  If we are objective, we will realize that all expressions of the church have changed and evolved over the last twenty centuries.  The reason that the church has not just survived but prospered is that it has continually been reinventing itself in order to fulfill its mission.   So how do we reinvent our churches today to be the people of God in our context?  Here are some suggestions: First, listen to the Spirit of God.  My teacher Alan Roxburgh says something like this: “The Spirit of G...

When we consider New Testament scriptures relating to the work of the church, we usually interpret the terms applied to leadership as specific offices when we should actually think of them as functions.   For example, consider Ephesians 4:11-12 in The Message translation: “He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. ” What we interpret as offices are really gifts that have a function in the Body of Christ to develop or equip mature believers.  These various gifts embody some of the skills we use in coaching, walking beside people as they discover, define, and pursue what God has in store for them. We are seeing these coaching skills b...