1 / 27

Faith and Mission in Aotearoa New Zealand

Faith and Mission in Aotearoa New Zealand. Being a summary of the Wilberforce Foundation Report, 2018 Linked to five conference addresses by Bishop Stephen Cottrell in August 2019 Leading to fresh emphases in evangelism and outreach in the local congregation Bishop Richard Randerson

bogue
Download Presentation

Faith and Mission in Aotearoa New Zealand

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Faith and Mission in AotearoaNew Zealand • Being a summary of the Wilberforce Foundation Report, 2018 • Linked to five conference addresses by Bishop Stephen Cottrell in August 2019 • Leading to fresh emphases in evangelism and outreach in the local congregation Bishop Richard Randerson richardrandersonnz@gmail.com

  2. The Wilberforce Foundation Report • Entitled Faith and Belief in New Zealand, this 2018 report may be found in full at https://faithandbeliefstudynz.org/ • WF Founded 2008 to support growth in faith-based organisations • A summary follows (e&oe!)

  3. Basis of Survey Research Data obtained in March 2018 from NZ census, an online survey of 1007 people (representative of different ages, gender, religion), and three focus groups of non-Christians (26 people of different ages and gender).

  4. Not quite so secular a society • 35% no religious or spiritual beliefs • 41% believe there is an ultimate meaning and purpose in life. • 17% of Kiwis go to church weekly >>> monthly • 13% Christian do not attend

  5. NZ Census 2006 and 2013 • 2006: 49% Christian (2013: 43%) • 2006:31% no religion (2013: 38%) • 2018?? – numbers awaited.

  6. Christian Adherence by Generations • 46% Builders (73 years +) • 37% baby boomers (54-72 years) • 27% Gen X (39-53 years) • 27% Gen Y (24-38 years) • 19% Gen Z (18-23 years)

  7. Possible factors(for non-adherence) • Busyness? Individualism? Self-created identity? Youth who know not Church? • 43% prefer scientific, rational and evidence-based approach to life • 17% think Religion and Spirituality outdated • 14% think religion is a crutch

  8. Yet an openness to Religion and Spirituality • 12% open to change religious views • 42% open to exploring other views • 59% would be influenced by seeing people who live out their faith • 68%: result of personal trauma or life change

  9. Spirituality important for these reasons • Important for wellbeing (46%) and mental health (47%). • (Gen Y and Gen Z) spirituality important for overall wellbeing (50%); mental health (52%). • Kiwis feel spirituality has contributed much to NZ values and beliefs.

  10. Maori Spirituality and Culture 60% feel Maori spirituality and culture have had great influence eg: • Recognising sacred spaces (73%) • Concepts of whanau (69%) • Respect for elders (68%)

  11. Attitudes to Christianity • 26% warm towards Christianity, but struggle with doubts and concerns • 31% cold towards Christianity • 57%: positive attitudes most likely shaped by parents and families • Kiwis value Church’s role in helping the poor, community initiatives.

  12. Significant Blockers to Belief • 47% : Churches’ attitude to homosexuality • 45% : the idea that a loving God would allow people to go to hell • 76% : abuse within the churches • 69%: Christians not practising what they preach.

  13. Kiwis have little knowledge of the Church • 9% do not know a Christian • 25% know only one • 22% know nothing about Church • 60% know a little about Church • 56% know little of their local church • 51% have neutral view of church in local community.

  14. Religion in State Schools • 55% open to discussion of Religion and Spirituality • 45% believe this of benefit but prefer teaching about all religions • 48% see exclusive Christian emphasis in a state school as a problem. Is there a parallel here with the debate about ‘Jesus’ in the parliamentary prayer?

  15. Positive impacts recognised Kiwis value the Church’s work in community: • 68% in disaster relief • 66% in care for homeless • 66% in finance and food relief • 66% in aged care facilities • 44% in churches’ offer of local community and community support

  16. Jesus thought approachable • 92% know something about Jesus • 52% believe Jesus important to life and society • But only 30% important to them personally • 53% connect Jesus with graciousness and love • Jesus better known if Christians’ actions spoke louder than words. (End of Report summary)

  17. Bishop Stephen Cottrell • Bishop Stephen is Bishop of Chelmsford, UK • He was the keynote speaker at the Anglo-Catholic Hui held in Wellington in August 2019 • Much of his input offered fresh emphases for local congregations in addressing some of the challenges raised by the Wilberforce Report • His message spans the Anglican spectrum from catholic to evangelical • A summary of key points follows:

  18. Have we lost our confidence? • This was Bishop Stephen's opening question: do we no longer expect people to be interested in the Christian faith? • Yet the Wilberforce Report indicated a significant openness to exploring questions of religion and spirituality

  19. The Damascus and Emmaus Roads • Paul’s conversion on the Damascus road was dramatic and life-changing. • Yet an international survey found that 75% reported their journey to faith was a gradual process, much more akin to that of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. • Evangelism is about enabling people to make this journey.

  20. The Best Evangelism… • … is seen through the lives of Jesus disciples’ today, i.e. you and I. • Do we see our faith only as a hobby? • Or do we hold it so tightly that others are frightened off? • Note the concluding WR slide that people found Jesus approachable because of his love and graciousness.

  21. Programmes of Nurture are Key • To assist people on the journey to faith every church needs a central programme of nurture. • Bishop Stephen's question: how can we make the Gospel intriguing, challenging and appealing to the people we already serve or have contact with? • If an enquirer approaches our church, what programme do we have for them to plug into?

  22. Six Marks of Mission • Contemplative: each day I need the Gospel to transform my life • Catechumenal: a great need in the Church to give a lucid and compelling account of what we believe. • Ecclesial: we cannot be disciples in isolation but need to be nourished by the faith and community of the Body of Christ. continued ….

  23. Six marks (continued) 4. Sacramental: enabling people to experience truth, goodness and the presence of Jesus and become channels of grace to others 5. Prophetic: enablingus to transform the whole world based on our own discipleship, thus achieving a good end for the world that reflects God’s justice, compassion and well-being. 6. Beautiful: our lives and liturgies should convey to all the sheer beauty of God’s love and truth.

  24. Re-imagining our liturgies • Ensuring all our liturgies reflect the beauty, truth and challenge of being disciples of Jesus. • Hot bath or cold shower? Is our worship like a hot bath to soothe our stressed lives? Or should it be like a cold shower challenging us to go forth and change the world? • The word Mass has the same root as Mission. Our mission begins with the concluding words of the Mass: Go forth into the world…

  25. Meeting People at their Point of Need(elaborating a point made by Bishop Stephen) • People today wrestle with poverty, grief, relationship struggles, addiction, mental health, as well as deeper issues of life and its meaning. • How can we build bridges to address these multiple concerns, and thus show something of the love of Christ that many recognise? • Engagement 21: a handbook with theology, statistics and 125 project outlines for engagement with the local community, available electronically and free of charge from richardrandersonnz@gmail.com

  26. Bi-vocational Ministry(giving greater focus to transforming the world) • With growing numbers of parishes staffed by part-time clergy, what else do these clergy do? • Many are trained teachers, nurses, counsellors or professionals or other workers. • To see such work merely as a ‘secular’ bread and butter occupation to earn money to support priesthood is a huge opportunity cost. • We should help develop a robust vocational sense about such work.

  27. Salt, Light and Leaven(enabling the laity in their mission of transforming the world) • Almost exclusively “lay training” means training the laity for roles in the local church- liturgists, pastoral care, administration. • Our mission to transform the world receives little more than lip service. The laity are like “God’s Frozen People” * • Programme resources to liberate the laity for their true role in Mission are available from Bruce Gilberd and Richard Randerson * Title of a book by M Gibbs and T R Morton) Power-point ends

More Related