Today we are in Montreal, worshipping with the United Church congregation where our son Isaac has been doing his placement. He has come to the end of that commitment, although he will continue to work with them. So it is nice that we can be present for his recognition during the service.
People often comment that we must be proud to have a son pursuing ministry. I have mixed feelings, even though Isaac will represent the third generation of United Church ministers in our family and fourth of those in "paid accountable ministry." My grandparents on both sides were Salvation Army officers.
Why mixed feelings? For all its strengths the United Church is one sick puppy. So many congregations are struggling for survival and I sense that our leadership is at a loss as to how to proceed. That doesn't mean they aren't trying, but how do you redirect a nation-wide organization toward health when it is so unwell? My own feeling is that we haven't paid attention to the core value of relationship with a living, active Christ which then informs our social action, but the problems are quite complex.
I see that the relatively few younger ministers are struggling to bring vitality to tired congregations and the road is difficult for them. If Isaac is ordained next year, as planned, he will be a member of a rare breed -- a UCC minister in his twenties. Still, Isaac has his eyes wide open on these realities and feels a strong sense of call, nonetheless. So who am I to do anything but support that conviction?
Are you wondering which direction we are going as a denomination? Are you encouraged that there are younger candidates for ministry?
I applaud Issac wholeheartedly and share you concern over dwindling numbers.
ReplyDeleteGenX-ers and those that followed simply don't have the same foundation in Christ that the baby boomers did. Why this happened, I can't say, but that's what's brought us to where we are. This in turn has been a major factor in the loosening of our moral behavior, our sense of neighborhood and devotion to community.
I fear to look 20 years into the future and wonder what lies ahead for Christians of all stripes in North America.
I do worry for what life will be like as our kids age....as church involvement falls so out of vogue...Isaac's optimism is so hopeful to me, and I keep an open mind that the church will survive,and I pray, even thrive again, just perhaps not in the form of buildings in every community as we know today.
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of hope in the survival of our church, just not in the way we see it today. I think change is being forced to happen now because of finance difficulties and the threat of many ministers retiring and being left with so few.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of changes on the horizon, and those of us who plan on retiring as a minister thirty years from now, will have to find the energy to be leaders during this time of change and transition.