Thursday
Jan222004
The future of the established church
Thursday, January 22, 2004 at 6:24PM This post is from the defunct blog "Dying Church"
The days of the established church are numbered. The church will exist and even thrive in the future, but it will look far different than it does today. Over the next few decades, I predict that the established church will change in three ways. First, we will see the rise of new forms of church such as the emerging church and house churches. Many who currently support established churches will leave and move to these new forms, and many with no church affiliation will join these new forms as well. Second, many will continue in the established church but will voluntarily lay up the trappings of modernity over time. Many established church pastors, like me, will continue to pastor established churches, but will either see their established churches transform into something completely different, or will one day make the leap into the new forms. Third, many established churches will resist changing and will one day face extinction. While the established church will continue for some time, its days are numbered. These are my predictions. Your thoughts?
Reader Comments (9)
Could the UK actually be ahead of the US? I'd say this has been happening in the UK for the last 15 or 20 years. People don't talk about housechurches here because they don't stay small enough for houses for very long. 'Established' Churches that hold to a narrow set of traditions are declining or becoming centres for those with specialised tastes in religion. The one thing I'd add is that I'd expect the 'unmoving' traditional churches to become increasingly distant from spiritual reality, and hostile toward those that are moving on with God. I would not expect them to disappear however, but instead to become a haven for those that require 'an appearence of righteousness' but wish to live an un-redeemed lifestyle.
I wonder how the established church can help release and encourage tne new forms. Worth thinking about.
It is GREAT to hear pastors such as yourself that recognize that God is moving in new/old ways! i think pastors of traditional churches will be a key to helping the new be established. what i mean is the new forms need the old to come beside and release and encourage. know what i mean? Peace
if the UK is a preview of the US, it's not only the dying of established churches, but it is the dying of Christianity altogether, yes?
I think the days of established churches that compromise on truth may be numbered. Those churches that are an inch deep and a mile wide. They won't last because people won't be growing in their faith in that kind of a church. I think those churches that boldly proclaim the gospel truth as in the days of the early church will remain to the end. Its kind of simple really, we just make it complicated. Stay with God's truth and we can't go wrong. God will bless it. God will bring the people in. He needs to see the church doing it His way and not compromising by embracing the trappings of modern culture. I look at churches that are doing this and the difference just leaps out at me. I'm grateful to be part of a church (Harvest Bible Chapel) that seeks not to compromise. Four pillars 1. Proclaiming the authority of God's Word without apology. 2. Lifting high the name of Jesus in worship 3. Believing firmly in the power of prayer. 4. Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with boldness. When the church compromises on holiness it has begun to go down the slippery slope. We need to get back to the basics. We need to call on God's spirit to move amongst us and reveal to us where we are going wrong so we can make the necessary adjustments and get back totally on His program. People in the world are hungry for Truth. I hear it every day and am experiencing that as I interact with these people with the Truth they respond. It takes time, but when people see the real genuine truth lived out in a person's life or in the commnity of a church they will respond and investigate for themselves what that is all about. And then God's Spirit will open their hearts and minds to His truth. Its a beautiful thing to witness and share. They always have and always will. Isn't that how God has always worked through people. Through people that are totally committed to Him? Of course it is. The biggest problem is compromise and rationalization. God's not going to work through people who are into that. Any thoughts on that?
George, there may be some parts of a church like Harvest that will survive - as you say, the parts about trying to recapture the essence of the Gospel. But a lot of what we think of when we think of church is very culturally conditioned. The churches that scare me most are the ones that don't realize this. They have all the trappings of modernism and think they're being biblical, and slam other forms because they don't understand them. These churches are on their way to extinction. (I don't know if your church is in this number; I'm speaking broadly here.) The established church will be around for a long time, but the church in the future will look different than it does today, because the culture that created the modern church will eventually be supplanted by something else. Because no church is ever completely free of cultural influences, it must (a) critically examine those influences and (b) realize that those influences will one day be replaced by new influences, which must also be examined.
Examined, but not embraced.
Hi Darryl. I've been following your blog for awhile and I guess I'm a little confused about the "emerging church". What exactly is it? I've seen several other websites where there was quite a bit criticism of the "established church". What is a definition of the established church? Thanks and God Bless.
Hi Jeff: Good questions! Neither the established nor the emerging church are really unified movements, but I'll give it a try. The established church is the church that we see all around us, characterized by programs, buildings, pastors, and Sunday services. While it's all most of us have known, it's not how the church has looked throughout all of its history. The emerging church is really a diverse collection of people really asking questions about what the church is supposed to be like. They question certain things about the established church, but not so much because they're anti-church, but they're trying to rediscover what God intended us to do and be. They're pretty discouraged that we've become so inward focused and tied to modern culture. The emerging church isn't a cure-all, and those within it aren't always right, but some of their questions are very good.