How Can We Reconnect With Our Communities

Last week, I introduced the challenge that as the church (as The Salvation Army) we need to reconnect with our community, to re-engage with society within New Zealand. Drawing from The Wilberforce report and the data that shows that ‘No Religion’ has officially overtaken Christianity in the 2018 NZ Census it represents a huge challenge to the Church.

The thing is, this is not just a challenge for us in New Zealand ‘Secularisation’ is affecting the church in the Western world as can be see by this article in the Daily Mail; “Losing our religion: Christianity in Europe is dying out as young people turn away from the church, research says” and this one exploring The Christian church: Dying out or thriving like never before? As noted last week in the article by Carey Nieuwhof the church is also starting to see the effects of secularisation in Canada also. But what can be done about it? Can we turn this around?

And if you’re not happy about the numbers, what are you going to do about it?

This is not only a huge challenge facing the church it is an opportunity for us to look at ways in which we can reconnect with the people of our communities. Sharing the Life, Hope and Love of the Gospel Message in ways that impact the hearts and minds of those that we come across. A personal response might well be that in every opportunity that you and I get, we will ensure that we are not ashamed of sharing the part that God has played in bringing us to a particular place and time, in a way that is non intrusive but unapologetically of Him. Afterall, we are each here by His grace!

So how can we reconnect with our communities and reach a growing number of people who are learning to live comfortably without God? This is a question that Carey asks in his article and he goes on to provide 3 approaches for Christian Leaders to explore:

Build Relationships – Jesus was deeply relational, and it seems he liked relationships with people outside the ‘church’ more than he liked hanging around with people inside the ‘church’. Encourage ‘your’ people to build relationships with people in the community; get the Christians in your church to get involved in their kids schools, to play sports in a community league, to get to know their neighbours. Salt only realizes its purpose if it gets out of the box and into the food it needs to season. You can’t influence people you don’t know.

Speak to Success, Not just Failure – In your preaching and in your conversation, if you are only prepared to speak to people in their moments of weakness and despair, you’re going to miss a big chunk of your city. If every example you share is of someone in a crisis or who has deep problems, you will never connect with people who like their lives or who have decent marriages, even without God. 

Value the Good You See – The everything secular is evil attitude of many religious leaders is not only a bit off base biblically, it’s also ineffective. Common grace is still at work in the world. If you read Acts 10, God appears to have valued people like Cornelius for his prayers and his gifts to the poor, even before his conversion. Jesus never started a conversation with an outsider by condemning them (that’s actually how he started his conversation with insiders… think about that for a moment), even if he finished it with a challenge (“go and sin no more”). Maybe that’s because Jesus actually loves unchurched people.

Detlef Pollack, a professor of religious sociology at the University of Münster in western Germany wants church leaders across Germany to rebuild a close connection to church members, and to get Christians involved in the community. He quotes the leader of the Protestant reformation, Martin Luther, who in the 16th century called on Catholic priests to listen to the needs of the common people and not remain stuck in past traditions that no longer fit the present day.

Now that may well be a challenge for the establishment and the traditionalists – However, as the co-founder of The Salvation Army once said: “If we are to better the future we must disturb the present.”

So what things can you do to re-engage, to reconnect with your community? Do you need to go to the people and find out what they think and want? What do we need to be doing differently to appeal to younger audiences? How do we engage with the disenfranchised, the outcasts, the submerged tenth, those that have never been to a church?

One of the fascinating aspects of The 2018 Faith and Belief in New Zealand report, commissioned by the Wilberforce Foundation, which explores attitudes towards religion, spirituality and Christianity in Aotearoa, New Zealand is that ‘almost three in five Kiwis (59%) talk about spirituality or religion when they gather with friends‘. And when drilled down further ‘younger generations are more likely to talk about spirituality and religion, with seven in ten Generation Y (69%) often or occasionally discussing spirituality and religion with friends‘. So their is a desire to explore faith and belief – but many do not turn to the church to get their answers.

Another theme that comes through is that a high number of respondents do not know their local church, in the case of The Salvation Army I would imagine that not many know that we are a part of the universal church. 56% do not know the local church at all, 25% only know it moderately / slightly well. So we, as a church have a bit of work to do, if we are to have any effect within the community! How do we get our message heard? By getting out there!

Reports of Christianity’s Death in Europe Have Been Greatly Exaggerated. There have been increasing signs of a real and sustained revival of Christian-themed enthusiasm in Europe, hardly reported and barely noticed in press across  the pond. I would hazard a guess that this is the same here in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and across America. We just need to find better ways in which to connect with people in our community. Emphasising God’s role in our everyday lives. Are you up for the challenge?

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We need to reconnect with our community

In one of my previous posts “‘No Religion’ officially overtakes Christianity in New Zealand Census.” I mentioned that we as the church (as The Salvation Army) need to reconnect with our community, to re-engage with society within New Zealand. And that this emphasis on ‘Religion‘ (dare I say concern around our ‘Spirituality‘) presents us with a wonderful opportunity, but the church has to re-engage in very different ways and communicate to our communities in a way that they can comprehend the importance of God in our Society.

This is not just a New Zealand issue it is something that the church in Western Europe has been struggling with for a number of decades and statements such as ‘The Church is dead‘ have been bandied around for years. Although in this environment Jesus has remained a focal point that people still seek out, God or at least our understanding of a Higher Power is something that people are still trying to comprehend. And the appreciation of church leaders such as the Pope has increased as he tackles some huge issues within the Catholic Church.

In a recent article by Carey Nieuwhof “How to Reach Unchurched People Who Don’t Think That They Need God” he shares his concerns about the number of people in Canada who profess ‘no religion’ as it is now at 24%, up from 16.5% a decade earlier.

He goes on to say that “That’s a massive shift in a mere ten years. As I reflect on it all, I’m left with this growing realization. People are learning to live comfortably without God.”

“Want to see where this might be heading? Go to Western Europe, where people have very comfortable lives and only a splinter regularly attend church. They just don’t see their need for God. Rather than being met with a wall of hostility, Christians are mostly being met with a wall of indifference and perceived irrelevance.”

I wonder if we in the church have circumnavigated this very train of thought, or by not confronting it, we have actually fed into ‘this wall of indifference and perceived irrelevance‘ when we rarely if ever praise, glorify, honour and even worship (in the true sense of the word) our Father in heaven for his part in our lives. We pat ourselves on the back for all the works that we have done with very little, if any, recognition of God, and our need of Him to make certain things come to pass so that we can do the works of His hands. After-all we are his hands and feet are we not?

All too often we sing the songs of worship and thank each other (or not as the case may be) for contributing to the weekly service, and walk through the doors of His sanctuaries (all around the globe) to the outside world and very quickly forget what we have supposedly learnt from the word of God and go to our everyday lives barely even allowing God a look-in to our world. We rely on our own strength and rarely if ever discuss the important things of life with Him, let alone our Christian brothers and sisters, who are apparently there to help encourage us and build us up in this life, so that we can be all that He would have us be.

Very rarely do we point those that we come across towards a loving God who wants nothing more than to have a personal relationship with them, and use us as His people to not only impact the world but make a real difference in the lives of anyone who would come to the Father.

Carey goes on to say: “I believe that means a massive shift in attitude and approach for those of us in leadership in the local church. Much of the church’s outreach over the last 60 years has been based on a few assumptions that are less and less true every year:

• Young adults will return to church when they have kids.
• People will turn to God when they hit a crisis.
• Most people will come back to what they left when they were young.
• When people have spiritual needs, they will look to the church to fulfill them.  

Instead, here’s what I see as increasingly true among unchurched people who are learning to live comfortably without God:

• Affluence (even many of our poor are affluent from a global perspective) has left people with a sense they have all they need to face life.
• People don’t always turn to God in crisis; they honestly don’t think the church can help.
• You can only come back to something you knew; when you are on your second or third generation of ‘unchurch’, there is nothing to come back to for many people.
• Personalised, google-able spirituality doesn’t demand the assistance of anyone or anything else.

So how do you reach a growing number of people who are learning to live comfortably without God?”

We’ll explore this theme and how we can reconnect with our communities over the coming months and as we do maybe we can each work out what it’s going to take for us to rethink our cultural assumptions as we move into this next era.

If you haven’t checked out the 2018 Faith and Belief in New Zealand report, commissioned by the Wilberforce Foundation you can view it here.

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How to Cultivate a Heart of Generosity

In the coming weeks (commencing Sunday 27 October) we’ll be exploring how we can ‘Cultivate a Heart of Generosity’, by looking at the “Lifestyle of Generosity” material.

This has been made available through The Salvation Army and has been developed by taking on some of the key learnings from 2 Corinthians 8:3-5 where Paul is blown away by the generosity of the Macedonian church.

“For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.” (NIV)

Along with other key passages related to giving we will see; “The Generosity of God” and acknowledge how our Heavenly Father provides for us. “The Importance of Giving”, through not only exploring the Biblical Model of Giving but also how Giving to God is an act of Worship. And lastly, that we should have a “Willingness to Give” because a willing response brings thanksgiving.

So join us over the next 30 Days as we discover how through living in relationship with Jesus, Growing in the power of the Holy Spirit and Giving through a Lifestyle of Generosity can be cultivated in our lives so that we can experience ‘LIFE’, and have it to the full.

For you information – earlier this year at The Salvation Army Wellington City we were encouraged as a congregation to willingly and generously give to the Self Denial Appeal and raised in excess of $40,000 which is a fantastic response to the ministry needs around the ‘Army’ world. Well done everyone for your contributions to this and a huge thank you!

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Let Youth Take the Lead

The following article was published on Christian Today by Christina Tyson a colleague of mine in New Zealand.

https://christiantoday.co.nz/news/let-youth-take-the-lead.html

As Christina notes when talking about younger people stepping up and answering the call to ‘Officership’ and local leadership within the church: “I’d like to think that as an organisation we (The Salvation Army) would be willing to embrace such leadership. And yet, at the same time, I hear some of my peers (and even those many years younger) protest that these would-be candidates for ministry are ‘too young’. ‘They need more experience first. Let’s give them a few more years.’ I am glad these people were not in the room when I was applying to become an officer at the age of 21!

In the church we send mixed messages. We call for innovation and change, yet side with caution and conservatism. And then we wonder at the downward slide of Christianity – 2018 census figures just released in New Zealand show that the number of people identifying as Christian has fallen from 47.65 per cent in 2013 to 37.31 per cent!”

As one who encourages younger people into areas of responsibility and leadership, and helps them to develop ~ I pray that we would get better at developing and training them and releasing them for mission and ministry, wherever it is that God places them, both now and in the future. So that we can reverse the trend!

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Morning Prayer

This morning as I listen to the “Dawn Service” I simply want to share a prayer that I have been using to start each day for the past week and a bit. It is a prayer that I received a number of years ago and has been sitting in my drawer up until that time, seldom recited or even looked at.

It is now stuck to the fridge and hopefully it doesn’t get lost amongst all the other magnets and notices, but is something that can be used to guide and direct my very being towards His will and purpose for my life. As I hope it can be for you too.

Father God,

I don’t want to take my good night’s sleep for granted; nor the safety & comfort of my hime; nor the fresh feeling of health in my body; nor the renewed gifts of appreciation & thoughts; nor the love & loyalty of those closest to me.

I want to begin this day with thankfulness & continue it with eagerness. I expect to be busy, but let me set about things in the spirit of service to you.

Take the skill that resides in my hands & use it today. Take & use the experience life has given me. Keep my eyes open, my imagination alert, that I may see how things look to others & respond accordingly.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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‘No religion’ officially overtakes Christianity in New Zealand Census

A little over two weeks ago one of the leading headlines in New Zealand which was getting a lot of press was “‘No Religion’ officially overtakes Christianity in New Zealand Census.” Following this a variety of articles and news feeds discussing the merits and reliability of the census and the numbers contained within it circulated.

Even some church leaders brought into question the validity of the census when the numbers relating to their actual church attendance compared to those stated in the census varied quite significantly. But rather than focus on the negatives maybe we as the church should be focusing on the opportunities that this process creates and start looking at ways in which we can reconnect with the people of our communities. Sharing the Life, Hope and Love of the Gospel Message in ways that impact the hearts and minds of those that we come across.

The thing is, at the end of the day the numbers matter and it should come as no surprise to us that these numbers are a tad concerning; as the number of people affiliated with Christianity has been declining more or less since Census records started and the trend has been discussed in detail for a number of years as humanism and our secular fascination increases.

In June 2018 there was an article in the New Zealand Herald ‘Losing faith: Why fewer New Zealanders are attending church‘ and it stated that “New Zealand is becoming less religious, exhibiting a sharp fall in the number of people who identify as Christian. A new report, Faith and Belief in New Zealand, says a third of New Zealanders identify with Christianity, down from 43 per cent in the 2013 Census and 49 per cent in the 2006 Census.”

A report commissioned by the Wilberforce Foundation says that “New Zealand’s ‘youth as a nation and resulting lack of religious tradition’ could be one reason for the rise of secularism. ‘Perhaps the increasing busyness of modern-day life or the emphasis on individualism and self-created identity have also had an impact.’ Older New Zealanders are more likely to identify with Christianity, and younger generations are more likely to not identify with any religion or spiritual belief.”
To find out more information about the report and faith and belief in New Zealand click here or copy and paste the following address https://faithandbeliefstudynz.org/

So when we take into account the fact that “an independent inquiry carried out in August 2019 regarding the 2018 census attracted only an 83% response rate, even lower than the 90% earlier reported. This drop, which amounted to the lowest census response rate for fifty years, has been blamed on a ‘digital-first’ policy, which excluded rural and older demographics.”

Again it should come as no surprise that the numbers don’t look great! Some say that religion (and by association the church) is dead or at least that it is dying. But is this an opportunity for the church to reconnect with our community, to re-engage with society within New Zealand.

As far as I’m concerned it’s a wonderful opportunity, but the church has re-engage in very different ways and communicate to our communities in a way that they can comprehend the importance of God in our Society.

Afterall we are told in Psalm 71:18 we need to demonstrate / share The Word & works of God with the next generation.

“God, now that I’m old and gray, don’t walk away. Give me grace to demonstrate to the next generation all your mighty miracles and your excitement, to show them your magnificent power!” Psalms 71:18 TPT

Another interesting insight comes from an article / post entitled ‘Europe must open up to new ideas about the secular state’ on The Conversation, the authors start by saying that “Religion is one of the toughest challenges facing modern secular societies in their search for identity, equality and cohesion. It’s increasingly a stronger source of identity than nationality or ethnicity for minorities and migrants while majorities appear to grow more and more religiously indifferent.”

Using India as an example of a country that has a commitment to secularism and allowing diversity in religion the authors go on to say that “in a society where religion was, and remains, an important anchor of personal identity, deeply valued by individuals and closely tied to notions of self-worth and dignity, the state had to make space for plurality of religious observances and cultural practices.”

So it is not that religion (the church) or in my case The Salvistion Army is dead, in fact it is very much the opposite – we as the church need to start the conversation, or at least be involved in the ongoing conversation that has been going on for a long time and re-engage with people in our communities, creating an inclusivity within the church that only God can truly bless as we welcome people of every creed and race, every background, ethnicity and gender. Because God calls us to be nondiscriminate.

So what does this look like in your setting – As this becomes the challenge for all of us as we open our doors to the whosoever! The Wilberforce report and the numbers in the 2018 Census represents a challenge to the Church: “If you’re not happy about numbers, what are you going to do about it?” And to quote Ulrich Zwingli, the Swiss reformer; “For God’s sake, do something brave!“

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