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The Church in the
20th century vs. the Church in the 21st century
Observations by Marion Aldridge
Coordinator, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of South Carolina
November 2005 |
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Caveats: These are
gross generalizations. Reality is affected by personality, social
status, political, religious and personality predispositions. My bias is
toward the 21st century, but that does not mean the future is all right
and the past is all wrong.
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ISSUE |
Church in 20th
century |
Church in 21st
century |
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Activities |
Age-graded |
Intergenerational;
Don’t separate families. |
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Age |
Old is over 30 or
60, depending on your age |
Old is over 25 or
80, depending on your ag |
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America |
Mission
Senders |
Mission Field |
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Automobiles driven
to church |
4 family members in
1 car |
4 family members in
3 cars |
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Bottom Line |
Church, Bible,
Denomination or "Christianity" |
Jesus |
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Brand loyalty |
Yes |
"What have you done
for me lately?" |
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Cause and Effect |
Deuteronomy: Effect
logically follows cause |
Job: Stuff happens. |
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Centralization |
Yes |
No |
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Change |
Resists |
Resists, though it
is expected and necessary |
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Children |
"To be seen and not heard" |
"To be seen, heard and obeyed" |
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Christian growth
from… |
One church |
Multiple churches
and sources including parachurch and Internet |
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Church as Business
(Budgets and office hours) |
Very Important |
Relationships in
Christian Community are more important than budgets and office hours. |
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Coffee |
Maxwell House in a
40 cup urn, Powdered creamer |
Starbucks Café
Latte, Frappacinno, Grande Mocha, etc. |
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Comfort level |
Same ol' same ol',
predictable, comfortable, hymns |
Edgy, unpredictable,
uncomfortable, drama |
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Communication |
Printed Materials
and Group Announcements |
Internet, email,
text messaging, FaceBook, Blogs |
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Congregational Governance |
Committees, Votes, Lengthy processes |
"Just do it." |
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Congregational Life |
At the church
building |
In the community |
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Conversation |
Let's don't talk
about hard things. |
Let's talk about
everything. |
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Conversion
motivation |
Heaven and Hell |
Life issues:
marriage, depression, children, bettering self and community |
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Converted from what? |
Cheating on Tests,
Disobeying Parents |
Alcoholic?
Skeptic? Stripper? Some are converted from unhealthy, harsh religion. |
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Cultural Trust of Church |
Church Trusted |
Church Not Trusted |
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Denomination |
Loyal and Lifelong |
Don't care |
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Doctrine |
Apostles
Creed/Indoctrination |
Mix and Match/Learn
and Discover/Can be very naïve/no historical support required |
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Dress |
Dress up in Sunday
Best |
Casual |
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During worship |
Hymn Books,
Bulletins |
PowerPoint
Projector, Big Screen for Worship |
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Ethnicity |
Always One
ethnicity/culture |
Multi-ethnic/Multi-cultural okay |
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Evangelism |
Assent to
Information and Join the Church |
Relational: “I like
who you are.” |
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Flexibility |
Systems and
Structures highly valued |
Spontaneity highly
valued |
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Generosity |
Yes, consistent, tithe |
Yes, but inconsistent, give to pet projects |
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Giftedness |
Certain gifts most
valued: preaching, teaching, music |
All gifts valued:
gardening, cooking, coaching, singing, building houses, painting |
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Group Size |
Bigger is Always Better |
Size does not matter, as long as there is intimacy |
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Guilt |
Often, and sometimes
manufactured |
Occasionally, but
over different issues; resists hanging onto guilt |
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Health |
Build a Hospital |
Provide Mental
Health Counseling |
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Heaven |
"I'm sure I am going
to heaven." |
"I'm sure we are all
going to heaven." |
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Hellfire and Damnation |
"Now that's good preaching." |
"Daddy, Why is the preacher angry?" |
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Homosexuality |
Mostly hostile,
unless you are gay, then guilt, depression, anger, confusion |
Ranges from "In your
face" (of gays) to “live and let live” to Hostile |
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Hospital and
Bereavement Visits |
Only a visit from
the pastor "counts." |
Members minister to
members. |
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How Work Gets Done |
Committees Elected by Congregation |
Self-appointed Teams based on giftedness |
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Information Flow |
Top down |
Up, down, sideways,
diagonal, across the room, across the Internet |
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Information Sharing |
9 out of 10 “Church
visitors” give name, phone number and address for follow-up visit. |
1 out of 10 “Church
visitors” give name, phone number and address for follow-up visit. |
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Innovations |
Hang on to the old |
Drop what isn't
working; willing to try new things |
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Literature |
Quarterlies
"Approved" by Denomination |
Anywhere and
Everywhere you can find Christian literature, or even secular literature
that helps, even movies that speak the truth |
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Meetings |
Sunday focused |
Random; whatever
fits my schedule |
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Membership |
Join: "Membership
has its privileges." |
Attend without
joining |
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Missions |
Pray, Send Others
and Give Money to support |
Go, Pray and Give |
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Model for
Discipleship |
Christian Education |
Spiritual Formation |
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Money |
Earn it, save it. |
It will be there
when I need it. |
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Motivation |
Guilt, Parents,
cultural expectations, Duty |
Internal, good
feelings, meaningful service, Fun |
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Movies |
White
Christmas/Sound of Music/Star Wars |
Lord of the
Rings/Harry Potter/Monster’s Ball |
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Musical Instruments
in Worship |
Organ/Piano |
Drums/Synthesizer/or
Don't Care |
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Mystery |
Prefers clear answers |
Comfortable with paradox and ambiguity |
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Name Recognition |
Billy Graham |
Rick Warren |
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Non-Christian
religions |
Considered “ungodly” |
Even if there is
disagreement, there is respect. |
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Numbers |
Nickels, Noses,
Budgets, Tithers |
Don’t care; Whose
life has been changed? Experiential |
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One on… |
...100 or 1000 |
...on one |
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Opinions about "Oughts"
and "Shouds" |
Many, especially
about childhood faith habits and memories |
Some opinions, and
more will come, but not too many yet |
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Organizations |
Clubs, associations,
denominations, national and international |
Do your own thing.
Local. |
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Other Faith groups |
Denominationally
loyal |
Ecumenical and
Interfaith |
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Parenting |
Parent is the
Authority |
Parents try to be
“best friends” |
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Pastor |
Superhuman--All
things to all people, All the Answers |
Human, Equipper;
Allowed to be wrong and make mistakes. |
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Permission |
Earned |
It is easier to get
forgiveness than permission. |
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Perspective |
Long Term |
Short Term |
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Place/Location/Buildings/Facility |
Proud of "our"
building, Sanctuary |
Doesn't matter:
movie theater or shopping center |
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Power and Control |
White European Males
in Positions of Authority |
Up for Grabs; will
follow “authentic” leadership |
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Preacher(s), Teacher(s) |
One Primary Communicator |
Multiple
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Priority on… |
Programs |
Relationships/People |
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Relevance to Daily
Life |
Don't get too
specific, except on approved topics. |
The more practical
the better: sex, money, whatever. |
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Salvation |
From eternal
damnation to heavenly bliss |
Saving whom from
what? Huh? |
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Science and Faith |
Either/Or |
Both/And |
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Scripture |
Importance of
doctrinal definitions, such as Infallibility, Inspiration |
Importance of
Understanding and Living by Scripture |
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Seating |
Pews (Easum: "only
in courtrooms and funeral homes") |
Chairs, Circles,
Interactive, face to face |
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Seminary Education
of Pastors |
Professional degrees
expected |
Practical skills
preferred/Servant leadership |
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Sequence |
Behaving, then Believing, then Belonging (David Holland) |
Belonging, then Believing, then Behaving |
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Sermon and Sunday
School Illustrations |
Classical
Literature, Famous Historical Characters |
Reality TV (“Homer
Simpson is so 1990’s.”), Comic Strips, Movies |
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Sermons |
Parent to Child
Communication: You Should, You Must, and You Ought NOT! NEVER!
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Adult to Adult
Communication: "Sharing"; Want to be coached, encouraged. |
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Sin |
"It's all about me
(though I am willing to talk about ‘your’ sins.)” |
"It's all about me." |
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Stability |
Values
Stability/Hates Risk |
"Here Today, Gone
Tomorrow." |
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Sunday School
lessons on… |
Sin, Miracles,
Prayer, Melchizedek, Hezekiah |
Family, Hope,
Health, World Religions |
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Technology |
Adversarial attitude: "Why does the church need a FAX? Why do we need a
copier? A VCR?” |
How can a church function without a FAX, copiers, a VCR, a DVD, a
website, and email addresses of members? Without PowerPoint? |
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Testimonies |
Of your conversion
experience, years or decades ago |
Of what happened
last week |
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Tradition |
Valued |
“What have you done
for me lately?” |
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Verb |
Passive (see
Seating) |
Active (see
Missions) |
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Visible leadership |
Older people who
have earned trust |
Whoever is willing
to lead, including younger unknowns |
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Which foot forward? |
Best |
Flawed: "Don't
waste my time with pretense." |
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Wine, Beer, Mixed
drinks, Dancing, Card games |
Big Deal |
"You've got to be
kidding?" |
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Wives |
Power through their
Husbands |
Power with their
Husbands |
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Women |
Restricted Roles |
Any role is possible |
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Words, Words, Words |
Keep talking… Sunday
morning, night, Wednesday night |
Show me! Actions
more important than words. |
