#futurechurch

[plethoraworldatlas]

To organize a National Eucharistic Congress in 2024, the Catholic bishops in the United States have partnered with an event planner who was accused of charging exorbitant rates during the preparations for Donald Trump's presidential inauguration in January 2017.

The bishops are also relying on conservative Catholic organizations to provide funding and create catechetical and promotional materials for a multiyear National Eucharistic Revival that will lead up to the four-day congress in July 2024. The bishops intend to set up a nonprofit organization to handle logistics and raise $28 million over the next two years to hold the event in downtown Indianapolis.

...

"This should be the kind of thing we can all unite around. If we can't unite around the Eucharist, and Jesus' presence in the Eucharist, I don't know what we can unite around," Matt Manion, director of the Center for Church Management at Villanova University, told NCR.

But some other liturgists, sacramental theologians, lay Catholics involved in church reform movements, and clergy abuse survivor advocates question the revival's premise, its price tag and the prelates' motives.

"You had low Mass attendance long before COVID that coincided with finance and sex abuse scandals. But the bishops think [confusion about] the Eucharist is the cause for the disaffection? Really?" asked Donna Doucette, the executive director of Voice of the Faithful, a reform group formed in the aftermath of the revelations of clergy abuse in the Boston archdiocese in 2002.

Jesuit Fr. John Baldovin, a professor of historical and liturgical theology at Boston College's School of Theology and Ministry, told NCR that previous public opinion polls, including an oft-cited August 2019 Pew survey, do not support the argument that emphasizing the Real Presence will draw fallen-away Catholics back to church."

The real question, I'd say, is not exactly the Eucharist," Baldovin said. "It's the credibility of Catholicism."

...

Arguably the most difficult aspect for the bishops in marketing their project is the congress' estimated $28 million budget. That figure prompted Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the U.S. Military Services to ask Cozzens at the conference's fall 2021 general assembly how the bishops could successfully market an initiative with a price tag that would seem "scandalous" to many Catholics.

"That's my budget for four years for the archdiocese, and I would imagine in much smaller dioceses, that probably represents much more," Broglio said.

...

The congress will take place during the height of the 2024 presidential campaign season. The Democratic and Republican nominating conventions are usually held during the summer.

Bishop William Muhm, an auxiliary for the Archdiocese of the Military Services, suggested last November that the bishops' conference reach out to both political parties to ask that they not schedule their conventions the same week as the eucharistic congress, to not make it appear that the bishops were trying to "politicize" the Eucharist

...

Despite the promises of best practices, transparency and spiritual returns on investment, the scope and expense of the eucharistic revival and national congress remain a tough sell to many observers."

They'd be better off putting that money into improving the quality of the celebration of the Eucharist, and of preaching. Then you'd have something to work with," Baldovin of Boston College said.

Deborah Rose-Milavec, co-director of FutureChurch, an organization that advocates for reforms in church governance and practice, said, "To put that kind of money into a revival for [the bishops'] image and their authority is a really sad chapter in a very long history of this group of bishops leading the church wrongly."

Terence McKiernan, co-founder of BishopAccountability.org, a website that tracks the bishops' response to clergy sex abuse scandals, told NCR he believes the $28 million expense will be "galling" for clergy sex abuse survivors, unless the bishops act concretely in the next couple of years to prove they stand with survivors.

"The last thing you want is for a celebration of the Eucharist to look like conspicuous consumption at the expense of survivors," McKiernan said.

[becominghuman]

Are Buildings a Burden? (Part 3)

I’ve made two strong suggestions so far. Here they are again, for you to consider and chew on:

1) For all the promise a building offers, it binds us to a past reality that no longer exists. In a way, building-centric ministry is an inversion of the truth that young people will lead us into the unknown future.

2) The most important couple of questions to ask are: (1) How do we invest our resources, not in the past, but in the emerging future—the future our young leaders see clearly and are already experiencing firsthand? and (2) How do we free up resources to invest in the right people . . . the people that will lead us forward?

The APEST leadership styles found in Ephesians 4 is helpful here. (Pause. Just to be clear, a prescribed “leadership style” cannot be found anywhere in scripture. And it’s disingenuous to suggest such. However, what we get in Ephesians is a description of different roles in [one of] the first century churches, which is gently suggestive that perhaps different people—then and now—fulfill those roles as faithful participants and leaders in the body.) Ephesians 4:11 does undergird my experience that no two leaders lead the same. Every leader expresses different gifts, and yet most leaders favor one of the five APEST “styles”.

As we consider equipping young leaders to lead us into the unknown future, it’s essential to understand how our current paradigm for ministry may likely conflict with their particular skill sets and capacities.

APEST stands for:

Apostolic Prophetic Evangelistic Shepherding Teaching

Apostles are “sent ones” and they are always on the move.

They translate the Gospel into new contexts and always are looking for and discovering fresh ways to manifest the Kingdom. They are bridge-builders, innovators, and launchers. They are driven by what’s around the next corner and always looking into the future. They are often identified by their creative energy and comfort with change.

Prophets hear from God.

Or, more accurately, prophets are sensitive to what God is sensitive to and call the community of believers to do the same. Biblically speaking, prophets speak truth to power because they are not afraid to question the status quo, challenge assumptions, side with the suffering, and publicize lament. They are often activists and challengers, leading with their hearts and passion.

Evangelists are expanders and recruiters.

They are effective communicators of the Gospel with those that wouldn’t find themselves sitting inside a church. They are motivated by getting outside the church and finding “lost sheep” to bring into the fold. In this way they recruit and grow the church. But they also expand the reach of a body because translating the Gospel in the “secular” world comes naturally to them.

Shepherds nurture a community.

They find value in stability and maturity. They are particularly gifted at prioritizing healthy, long term relationships, and steering the church toward an emphasis on discipleship. Shepherds appreciate systems that support the network of the relationships that make up the body and highlight the need for loving environment for safety and healing.

Teachers have a keen ability to both understand the faith and communicate it.

They help ground the body in the historical faith, scripture, and wisdom. Because they are skilled at sharing the Gospel and transferring doctrine, they emphasize the intellectual aspects of the faith. Teachers can challenge the community through confrontational teaching, but they are more drawn to revealing the truth through discovery and education.

As you can see, while there are some similarities in the context of young leaders, there are differences in their capacities and dispositions.

Church buildings and building-centric ministries struggle to inform and prepare all five types of young leaders.

Buildings are a long-term investment. The fruits of church building ownership are not immediate but cumulative over time. This is obvious in a financial sense, as a building’s value appreciates over time. But it’s a socio-psychological investment too. A church building grows in familiarity and sentimentality, becoming associated over time with fond memories, meaningful anecdotes, congregational growth, and shared experience. The building’s emotional value appreciates. Unfortunately, this carries very little importance for apostles. Apostles are looking forward not backward, ahead not behind. Value is in innovation and being ahead of the cultural curve. Buildings, especially ones tied to sentimentality, are the antithesis of apostolic ministry

Buildings are a safe investment. They are a sure-fire way to secure a community’s wealth. Arguably, they represent good stewardship. A prophet, however, doesn’t see buildings as security but as misplaced value, inhibited resources, and even unjust. Prophets are always asking, What would God do with these resources other than hoarding them as wealth security. Training prophets to help us be more faithful will require a radical redistribution of our investments.

Evangelists want to expand the reach of the church and penetrate the community. Traditionally churches have often viewed their building as a gift-of-space to the community and therefore an evangelistic tool. The problem here is that the evangelistic imaginations of churches is too limited. The church uses the building predominantly for Sunday gatherings, and consequently understands its function through that lens. Evangelism is often reduced to inviting the community to “come see how we use this building” which is effectively an invitation to Sunday morning worship.

Shepherds and teachers have historically thrived in space provided by a church building. There are classrooms for teaching, fellowship halls for conversations, offices for private conferencing, auditoriums for conventions and larger gathering opportunities, etc. With Sunday School attendance dropping, third space venues on the rise, and studies showing pastors spending more time in coffee shops and home offices than at the church, teaching and community building must also shift. Training shepherds and teachers must also be reimagined in new locations too.

Buildings are a burden because they rely on a conferencing paradigm. Because the building is no longer the primary place where communities gather (conference), leadership development for the future cannot successfully occur within a conferencing paradigm. Come, gather, and see is not a refrain that situates our congregations well in raising apostles, affirming prophets, encouraging evangelists, and equipping teachers and shepherds.

Perhaps a coordinating paradigm would be more effective. While conferencing assumes that the flow of energy and attention is always toward the church building on Sunday morning, coordinating assumes there are diverse contexts and locations necessary for training new leaders. All five types of leaders need different space and difference experiences to develop into the faithful leaders of tomorrow. The local church should consider itself the coordinator of those diverse contexts.

Coordinating doesn’t require a church building, but it does require space, facilities, and resource. What type of facilities are necessary? Where are they and how might they be used? Can the church’s buildings be converted or overhauled to suit the changing needs?

[cathnews]

New Vatican laws on clergy abuse not enough

New Vatican laws on clergy abuse not enough

A former member of Pope Francis’ commission on clergy sexual abuse said the recent revision of the criminal section of the Catholic Church’s canon law do not go far enough to protect children and vulnerable adults from possible predators. Marie Collins pointed out that the new provisions do not mandate that a priest found guilty of abuse be removed from any office he may hold, or from the…

[hollywoodumc-harmonytolucalake]

These two are always looking for babies to hug... be on the look out! #babyhugger . #FutureChurch #HollywoodCampus #HollywoodUMC #Hollywood #Community #HUMC #hollywoodchurch #Inclusivechurch #affirmingchurch #churchfamily #AllAreWelcome (at Hollywood United Methodist Church - Hollywood Campus) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu3uNR2liz7/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=idf3enhox4wi

[jgibson430]

Welcoming the Future Church - A Book Review

Is your church reaching the next generation? @jpokluda #futurechurch

They have been called the most influential generation, and yet Millenials are distancing themselves more and more from the institution of the church. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves, but they’ve not always found a place within the larger context of the local church, choosing instead to give their time to things that seem to be more effective.

In his latest book “Welcoming…

[aka-76-blog]

So sometimes our thoughts wonder in church(🙈).... I couldn't help but Imagine What Church Will Be Like In The Year 2030 if care is not taken... Pastor: Praise The Lord! Congregation: Hallelujah! Pastor: Can We Pls Open our iPads to Exodus 20:1. When U r Done Kindly Switch On Ur Bluetooth To Receive The Sermon... Pls Have Ur Debits Card Ready As We Collect The Tithes And Offerings.... You Can Connect To Church WiFi Using Password Lord3732 And As For The Renovations And Donations U r Welcome To Contribute Via Cellphone Banking. The Holy Atmosphere Will Be Electric As IPads Flicker. Meanwhile...ANNOUNCEMENT. Church Secretary: Dis Week's Meeting Will Be Held On Various WhatsApp Groups So Pls Don't Miss Out ... Wednesday Bible Teaching Will Be Held Live On Skype @1900GMT... By D Way You May Follow The Pastor On Twitter For Counselling And don't Forget Our Weekly Prayers On YouTube... God Bless #FutureIShere #Futurechurch #Thoughts#church #Gaborone #Botswana (at Gaborone, Botswana)

[faithfullyflana]

Scripture that Pastor Dennis referenced today during the new series #Futurechurch #WeAreVictory #victoryworldchurch

[nativitychurchnyc]

It was a pleasure meeting #FutureChurch's Executive Director Deb Rose-Milavec tonight in New York City. FutureChurch is the organization that helped Nativity Church appeal in 2006 and offered their services yet again in our efforts to keep Nativity open this past year. Follow them online to hear about their empowering initiatives including worship, advancing women's leadership in the Church, discussion on making celibacy optional for priests, women diaconate, and more. ---> FutureChurch.org (at FutureChurch)

[imagodeiinitiative]

"Christianity’s true relevance lies not in the gospel’s comfortable trendiness but in its uncomfortable transcendence, as a truth with the power to rebuff, renew and restore wayward humanity at every epoch in history.

"Research also indicates that millennials do prefer 'real' churches over 'cool' ones. Contrary to the belief that churches must downplay their churchiness and meet in breweries or warehouses in order to appeal to millennials, a 2014 Barna study showed that millennials actually prefer church spaces that are straightforward and overtly Christian. The same study reported that when millennials described their 'ideal church,' they preferred 'classic' (67 percent) over 'trendy' (33 percent)."

[twiggygomes1]

Super stoked! Even though they aren't coming to Cali I know that God is gonna do amazing things on this tour! #NoOtherName #HillsongWorship #Tour #futurechurch

[theundergroundsite]

Pope Francis says women play a 'fundamental' role within the church

Pope Francis on Wednesday (April 3) said women play a “fundamental role” in the Catholic Church as those who are mostly responsible for passing on the faith from one generation to the next. - http://theundergroundsite.com/2013/04/03/pope-francis-says-women-play-a-fundamental-role-within-the-church-57415

[convergemag]

We get sent books too! 

“If you could write a letter to the North American church today, what would it say?"

Intervarsity Press sent us a new book available on April 2012.

[faithfullyflana]

Scripture that Pastor Dennis referenced today during the new series #Futurechurch #WeAreVictory #victoryworldchurch