Serving The Present Age. F. Douglas Powe, Jr.

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1 Serving The Present Age F. Douglas Powe, Jr.

2 Life Cycle Birth Growth Maturity Dying Death

3 Congregations Birth Come into existence Growth Maturity Many mainline congregations hit pick in 60 s Dying Starting in the 70 s Today many are in a crisis

4 Why Did The Congregations Grow America had just experienced two World Wars Start of the Baby Boomers and people were looking for Christian spirituality The church was the social place to be for a time A part of the problem we thought this type of growth would continue

5 Why are Congregations Dying? The country is not as concerned with institutional church People moved away Neighborhood has changed Hospitality Stopped Inviting Inward Focused Young People not interested Sermons do not connect

6 Scriptural Basis Matthew 9:10-11, While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved Property of F. Douglas Powe, Jr. 2012

7 Generational Categories (Strauss and Howe) Silent Boomer Thirteeners Millenial Property of F. Douglas Powe, Jr. 2009

8 African American Generational Categories (Powe) Civil Rights Black Consciousness Integrationist Hip Hop Property of F. Douglas Powe, Jr. 2012

9 Cultural Shifts in African American Culture The Civil Rights generation continues to be the most influential model for how we are currently during church. The black consciousness generation tended emphasize an Afrocentric Christianity still maintaining Civil rights assumptions. Many congregations start seeking African American Christian material. Property of F. Douglas Powe, Jr. 2009

10 Civil Rights Generation Tend to be the dominant generation framework out of which congregations operate Want a strong connection to the pastor Value structure Value authority Like to meet Focus on the church building Property of F. Douglas Powe, Jr. 2012

11 Black Consciousness Many similar traits to Civil Rights Generation They emphasize a black is beautiful Appropriate ethnic church material Strong on economic development Often very politically involved Property of F. Douglas Powe, Jr. 2012

12 Cultural Shifts in African American Culture (continued) The Integrationist generation the first generation to experience busing. Housing patterns start to shift because African Americans are no longer confined to certain urban areas (church not necessarily in one s community). A distinction between Christian and Spiritual. The Hip Hop generation is more eclectic musically. Even the gospel music this generation listens to is commercial more than hymns. Property of F. Douglas Powe, Jr. 2009

13 Integrationists Start of Post Civil Rights Generations First generation to experience busing Housing patterns start to shift in America The word spirituality starts getting used This is a bridge generation (Civil Rights and Post Civil Rights) Start of spiritual, but not religious Property of F. Douglas Powe, Jr. 2012

14 Hip Hop Figure things out by participating Connected, but not necessarily belong Not facebook Not one main leader Do not like to meet Are not focused on the building Fully buy into spiritual, but not religious Property of F. Douglas Powe, Jr. 2012

15 Re-Thinking Church Many of our congregations have got to try some new things We have to develop new mindsets in our congregation Are we focused on God s business or just doing things are way

16 Willingness to Change Not do things the way you have always done them This is true for resurrecting congregations or for them continuing to thrive We do not own the church The church is not a building Not change for the sake of change

17 Not Safe For Church The book focuses on ten practices that will help your congregation connect with younger generations Not going to talk about all 10, but share a few ideas from the book

18 Invite We have to think beyond inviting to church People experience God s joy in various ways Less building focused

19 Hospitality Most of us get the importance of greeters Most of us get the importance of being friendly Do we get the idea that hospitality in a church means creating a space where someone can experience God? This means thinking deeply about every event we invite others to attend whether it is inward or outward focused This means helping them to connect their story to the church s story and ultimately to God s story Making space when they come

20 Entry Points Traditionally Worship Sunday School Post Civil Rights Mission Social Media Small group activities

21 Entry Points Speak to what we have to offer For example---sanctuary, connectedness and deeper spirituality It will be experienced in the way dialogue s and interactions occur when doing mission, social media and small groups Willingness to Listen

22 Relationship Building We have to build relationships with those from the Post Civil rights community to journey with us We have to make sure they have a voice Mission Community Clean-up Schools Social Media Honest discussion of challenging topics Issues facing the community Small Groups Sports outing Spades

23 Preaching Sermons How is your preaching making a difference for the way individuals understand their lives, church s story and God s story? How is your preaching invitational to those who dis-remembered God s story or never knew it? How do you invite conversation about your sermons? Facebook Bible Study

24 Relationship Building Not just one activity Plan ways to build relationships over extended period Not give up if first event is not successful Must be authentic Must be true to the gospel Keep in the forefront that we are a faith community

25 Sampling Sampling is often used in hip hop by artist to bring in something called old school into their music The Payback by James Brown one of the most sampled Atomic Dog by George Clinton Numbers 14:1-3 an example of negative sampling not a good mix Numbers 14:6-9 an example of good sampling good mix

26 Master Sampler--Jesus Luke 4:18-28 Jesus reads word that are comforting and fit with those who have a certain understanding of tradition Jesus in verse 24 surprises them and says these words are not for you Verse 28 they want to run him out of town run out young folk.

27 Master Sampler Traditions have to constantly be re-interpreted We must draw on the past, but not simply repeat in the same way Jesus was opening up the possibility for those who were not Jewish to become Christian us We have to open up new possibilities when we interpret tradition

28 Sampling It is about working together Many of the hits today are dependent on things from the past, but they are different We have to pull from the past and be willing to try some new things if we are going to connect with young people