In “A New Kind of Christianity” Brian McLaren urges Christians/Churches to wrestle with 10 questions in order to “dis embed” themselves from their Modern assumptions and incarnate the gospel afresh in a Postmodern world.
Question #1 – The Narrative Question: What is the Overarching Story Line of the Bible.
In his book “A New Kind of Christianity,” Brian McLaren writes “The Christian faith in all its forms is in trouble.” The source of the trouble? It is due in part to the reality that “nearly all of our Protestant denominations had been formed…in the modern era…with its absolute scientific laws, consumerist individualism, and rational certainty…” The modern era, however, is giving way to “a new postmodern paradigm of pluralism, relativism, globalism, and uncertainty…”
Despite this radical change in culture, the church seems blind to it. The result is that fewer in the postmodern culture want anything to do with the modern forms of Christianity. It is time, therefore, for Christianity to “disembed from the paradigm of modernity” and be reborn “in a postmodern context.”
New series on Psalms of Ascent launches today: “The Ride of Your Life.”. 9 AM. # Ps. 119 prayer for those preaching/ teaching today: May His word that you proclaim keep listeners up till midnight–praising… Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-04-18
From 1928, the Highland Church of Christ in Memphis, TN grew from a suburban church plant of 24 to a large urban congregation with four Sunday AM services, two Sunday Schools, five church plants, and all-time high records in 2001 in Sunday School (1419), Sunday AM worship (1855), and membership (1806). With the building capacity maxed out and the property landlocked, in 2001 leaders privately investigated an alternate property for the purpose of relocation. By 2003, the relocation discussion went public and the congregation voted to move. Nine years after the initial investigations, the Highland Church of Christ re-launched in a new facility on forty acres in a suburban location.
Almost everything that could go wrong during a church relocation did go wrong with ours. Yet, many things also went right. In the previous series of posts, I explored that which went wrong–the things we regret about our relocation journey. In this series, I’ll explore what went right–the things we rejoice in about our relocation journey.
#4 – Increased Ministry Involvement/Leadeship
During Highland’s highest periods of growth, I remember several conversations with potential new members that went something like this: “I love Highland. But I don’t think I’d be needed here. You already have so many talented people.” Gifted individuals perceived they weren’t needed and would have a place to serve. But during our relocation journey all of that changed. We suddenly became the church where every person was needed and every gift required. If you could breath and blink, we could put you to work.
Church on the Move (Part 4): 10 Reasons We Rejoice in Relocating