I see this. I think that we have hit the tipping point of no return in so many churches. We have become too small and old to have any energy for initiatives to expand. We struggle with whose turn it is for coffee hour hosting . Theres a reserve of 6 figures in the outreach fund that goes unspent every year and ideas to actually do outreach if it’s to a large and growing Latino community are stone walled.
The Beloved Community is making a choice. God has the last word . If Gods wills it, the Episcopal Church survives , if not then so be it.
If the money is in trusts and endowments, why not use it? People and corporations save up during good times in order to get through bad times. When nothing is coming in, and a new approach or new product is desperately needed, it's time to unlock the box and use the reserve.
right. this is a great question. Why *not* use it?
Here's what I have witnessed personally, with congregations and other organizations considering spending from their endowments in significant ways (ie not taking the interest from them, but spending the principle):
Deep down, people are afraid if they start spending their endowments, they're on the way to dying. The money will run out and they'll have to close.
It's hard for them to see that they are dying even if they *don't* spend the money.
Sean's phrase here as bishop of the Partnership of WNY and NWPA has been about doing "an experiment for the sake of the Gospel" and I think that is the perspective needed. Trial and error, not being stuck in what we used to do, looking for creative ways of evangelism, ministry, worship, being community, etc. Even my formation and ministry as a transitional deacon here in Buffalo, NY, is an expression of that sentiment. I hope TEC can embrace Sean and his perspective, and it will certainly be a "great day in the Kingdom".
I knew nothing about Bp. Rowe before the election. As someone who used to work for Bp. Curry, and considers him a friend, I was mostly in mourning mode!
I was also *sure* that the church would never again elect someone as fit for the job as Bp. Curry.
All this to say that no one was more surprised than me when we managed to elect someone who is different, but just as amazingly fit for the job!
Our new Presiding Bishop gives me hope.
I still think the institution will not recover. Which makes me even more hopeful for how the church will emerge anew.
Thanks. Yes, think of all the great minds and hearts who have poured themselves out into trying to reverse the trend, yet nothing’s working. Could it be … Gd?
Well I don't know if I would "embrace" someone I loved dying. Truth in that is I would be at peace with their passing, as one day I will as well, and because we confess that we are already living the life of resurrection. At the heart of my book, Community as church, church as community as well as Ministry Matters is he paschal mystery, the heart of the Gospel, Jesus' death and resurrection. Throughout history the church has gotten fixated either on the death or the resurrection--pick your era, denomination. The record historically witnesses to this. But you can't have the one without the other. The contemporary Russian priest, preacher and martyr Fr Alexander Men, when speaking after the fall of the USSR, said the church was only just beginning, and at the same time dying away. In my study I gathered many examples of communities, that is, parishes or congregations reinventing themselves, re-rooting in their neighborhoods, repurposing their buildings, reviving their reason for being, rediscovering what it means to be the friends of Jesus in the world. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe also encourages me, since from the Rust Belt, he knows what the death of ways of life look like--and yet the new life continues, just as is the case for us when we start pushin up daisies. Christ is risen. Same for Christ's people.
i guess I'm thinking more personally, of embracing one's own death. Plenty of people do this - find joy in what time they have left, and wonder at what comes next.
I see this. I think that we have hit the tipping point of no return in so many churches. We have become too small and old to have any energy for initiatives to expand. We struggle with whose turn it is for coffee hour hosting . Theres a reserve of 6 figures in the outreach fund that goes unspent every year and ideas to actually do outreach if it’s to a large and growing Latino community are stone walled.
The Beloved Community is making a choice. God has the last word . If Gods wills it, the Episcopal Church survives , if not then so be it.
I'm very interested in where we go next. What resurrection looks like for the church.
I think you would appreciate this 3-part series on the fall of the church. Here is part 1:
https://soberchristiangentlemanpodcast.substack.com/p/s1-ep-1-of-3-fall-of-the-church-ecclesia
If the money is in trusts and endowments, why not use it? People and corporations save up during good times in order to get through bad times. When nothing is coming in, and a new approach or new product is desperately needed, it's time to unlock the box and use the reserve.
right. this is a great question. Why *not* use it?
Here's what I have witnessed personally, with congregations and other organizations considering spending from their endowments in significant ways (ie not taking the interest from them, but spending the principle):
Deep down, people are afraid if they start spending their endowments, they're on the way to dying. The money will run out and they'll have to close.
It's hard for them to see that they are dying even if they *don't* spend the money.
Sean's phrase here as bishop of the Partnership of WNY and NWPA has been about doing "an experiment for the sake of the Gospel" and I think that is the perspective needed. Trial and error, not being stuck in what we used to do, looking for creative ways of evangelism, ministry, worship, being community, etc. Even my formation and ministry as a transitional deacon here in Buffalo, NY, is an expression of that sentiment. I hope TEC can embrace Sean and his perspective, and it will certainly be a "great day in the Kingdom".
I knew nothing about Bp. Rowe before the election. As someone who used to work for Bp. Curry, and considers him a friend, I was mostly in mourning mode!
I was also *sure* that the church would never again elect someone as fit for the job as Bp. Curry.
All this to say that no one was more surprised than me when we managed to elect someone who is different, but just as amazingly fit for the job!
Our new Presiding Bishop gives me hope.
I still think the institution will not recover. Which makes me even more hopeful for how the church will emerge anew.
My thinking too. To avoid speaking of death is to avoid speaking of subsequent resurrection. Let’s start catching up with the new life to come!
yes! I loved your post yesterday, too. Is God killing the church? Provocative. and intriguing to consider...
Thanks. Yes, think of all the great minds and hearts who have poured themselves out into trying to reverse the trend, yet nothing’s working. Could it be … Gd?
Well I don't know if I would "embrace" someone I loved dying. Truth in that is I would be at peace with their passing, as one day I will as well, and because we confess that we are already living the life of resurrection. At the heart of my book, Community as church, church as community as well as Ministry Matters is he paschal mystery, the heart of the Gospel, Jesus' death and resurrection. Throughout history the church has gotten fixated either on the death or the resurrection--pick your era, denomination. The record historically witnesses to this. But you can't have the one without the other. The contemporary Russian priest, preacher and martyr Fr Alexander Men, when speaking after the fall of the USSR, said the church was only just beginning, and at the same time dying away. In my study I gathered many examples of communities, that is, parishes or congregations reinventing themselves, re-rooting in their neighborhoods, repurposing their buildings, reviving their reason for being, rediscovering what it means to be the friends of Jesus in the world. Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe also encourages me, since from the Rust Belt, he knows what the death of ways of life look like--and yet the new life continues, just as is the case for us when we start pushin up daisies. Christ is risen. Same for Christ's people.
i guess I'm thinking more personally, of embracing one's own death. Plenty of people do this - find joy in what time they have left, and wonder at what comes next.
That's what I was trying to get to.