Use this post to share ideas that you have for what the future of the church looks like.
Share new and innovative ideas that you or others have for the church of this generation. Who is doing interesting work? Who has a vision of the future of disciple-making that blows your mind? What worries you about the future? What is something that has revolutionized the way you or your church do ministry? What do you wish someone would do?
You guys should strongly consider having Fr. Jack Wall (of Old St. Pat’s in Chicago) in the conference in some way.
It is amazing to me that in 1984 there were only four registered members at Old St. Pat’s and, largely through his vision and his efforts, the church now has over 3,000 registered members. Many of its members are Catholics who, after being unhappy with their home churches, have found a community at OSP. Thus, OSP draws people in the Chicago area from over 200 zipcodes.
It would be nice to have some Catholic representation among the liberal protestants that Uchicago loves so much! (Not that there is anything wrong with liberal protestants, I love them too).
-Erin McCarthy
Great idea, Erin!
I’m excited about the church growing in new ways…. like worshipping in new spaces, finding more accessible language for the “un-churched” and being more relevant in youth culture- having helpful and compelling things to say about sexuality, finding meaning and purpose, being a Christian in a pluralistic world.
I’m worried (as future clergy) that the role of ministers will be diminished so that my job security will go away! But really, I worry two things: that churches will come to be seen ONLY as welfare providers for “the least of these”….that our country will assume that churches can bear that burden. We can help- but we can’t do it all. I also worry that the trend [that identifies Christian as conservative right wing folks against human rights/environmental issues] will continue to marginalize progressive Christians and hinder our work together ecumenically AND in the public square. I fear that the Christian image already needs to be totally re-vamped.
Also- check out this awesome post on the Salt Project, home of our conference preacher, Liz Myer Boulton! All about the Gaga Gospel and our Holy Week soundtracks… ties into our conference theme perfectly! http://www.saltproject.org/salt-blog/gaga-gospel.html?lastPage=true#comment17550501