OPEN OUR EYES, LORD: CHANGING FROM MEMBERSHIP TO DISCIPLESHIP

1. OPEN OUR EYES, LORD: CHANGING FROM MEMBERSHIP TO DISCIPLESHIP Rev. Dr. Rick Rouse

2. A MIRACLE OF SIGHT: John 9

3. Change and Transformation • “If any one is in Christ, they are a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” --2 Cor. 5:17-18 • “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” --Romans 12:2

4. Change or Die? Averagelifespan of acongregation is 20 years. If a congregation does not re-invent itself—and renew its sense of mission and purpose—it will begin to die.

5. MOSES: CHOOSE LIFE OR DEATHDeuteronomy 30:19 A TALE OF TWO CHURCHES

7. Different Responses to Change 2.5% Innovators & 13.5% Early Adapters Early Majority Late Majority 13.5% Laggards & 2.5% antagonists

8. TaBLE REFLECTION QUESTIONS • Why do you think change is so hard for many of us and our congregations? • As you think about the story of two churches, which one do you think is most like your congregation? • What do you think about the different responses to change? Is there a way to keep the 16% on either side of the continuum?

9. ELCA is an Aging Church • Average Age is 56+ (US average 38) • 20% fewer confirmations in past 10 yrs • 65% Builders and 35% Baby Boomers attend a house of worship* • Yet only 18% Gen Xers and 4% Millennials attend* *Denominational Average (George Gallup)

10. Impressions of Under 40 Crowd: 1. The church is an organized religion with a political agenda. • The church is judgmental and negative. • The church is dominated by males and oppressive to females. • The church is homophobic. • The church arrogantly claims all other religions are wrong. • The church is full of fundamentalists who take whole Bible literally. PEW: “Portrait of Generation Next”

11. Beliefs of Unaffiliated (Nones) • Religious people are hypocritical, judgmental and insincere. • Religions are partly true, but none are completely true. • Religious organizations are too focused on rules, not spirituality. • Religious leaders want money and power. • Religious people are anti-science. Kenneth W. Inskeep, Research and Evaluation, ELCA, 2012.

12. 70% Catholic Mainline Conservative Evangelical 59% 60% None General Population 50% 47% 44% 41% 41% 40% 40% 34% 29% 30% 24% 23% 23% 21% 19% 20% 13% 12% 9% 10% 7% 6% 5% 5% 0% I follow a religion and consider I follow a religion but don't I don't follow a religion but I don't follow a religion and myself to be a spiritual person consider myself to be a consider myself to be a don't consider myself to be a interested in the sacred and spiritual person interested in spiritual person interested in spiritual person interested in the supernatural the sacred and the the sacred and the the sacred and the supernatural supernatural supernatural Religiousness DESCRIPTION by Group OF General PopuLATION Source: General Social Survey, National Opinion Research Center, 2008. Prepared by Research and Evaluation, ELCA.

13. WHAT PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR • A sense of community (belonging). • Having a meta story that anchors their lives. • Service: want to make a difference in their community. (Gallup)

14. THREE KEY LISTENINGS • Listen to God: Where is God opening doors for your church? • Listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying through your members. • Listen to the cries of your neighborhood.

15. Luther, GRACE, and Discipleship “We are not saved by good works, but in order to do good works. In response to God’s grace in Christ, we are compelled to care for our neighbor in need.”

16. AMAZING GRACE LUTHERAN: A TURN-AROUND CHURCH

17. claiming a Congregation’s MISSIONAL Future 1. Develop a vision for mission. 2. Build ownership for the vision. 3. Teach Biblical stewardship as one of the spiritual disciplines. 4. Move congregation from a theology of scarcity to a theology of abundance. 5. Help congregation release the bounty of their resources for ministry.

18. THE GREAT RUMMAGE SALE • A new, more vital form of Christianity does begin to emerge. • The organized expression of Christianity which up to now has been the dominate one is reconstituted into a more pure, less fossilized expression of its former self. • Every time established Christianity has broken open, faith has spread dramatically into new geographic & demographic areas.

19. The Church We Want to Be • We want to be a church that belongs to Christ with a place for everyone. • We want to be a church whose unity is in Jesus, who gathers us around word and water, wine and bread. • We want to be a church that believes Jesus is God’s “yes” to us and that our lives can be a “yes” to others. • We want to be a church that believes God is calling us into the world--together a church that rolls up its sleeves and gets to work (restoring and reconciling communities). Kenneth W. Inskeep, Research and Evaluation, ELCA, 2012.

20. The Church We Want to Be (cont.) • We want to be a church that is a catalyst, convener and bridge builder. • We want to be a church that is energized by lively engagement in our faith and life (continually striving for a deeper understanding of what the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ means for the world.) • We want to be a church that is deeply rooted and always being made new. Kenneth W. Inskeep, Research and Evaluation, ELCA, 2012.

21. Jeremiah 29:11 • “The plans I have for you,” says the Lord, “are not for your harm but well-being. To give you a future with hope.”