BONUS BLOG: “The Church is Dying”

Robert English is a colleague and online friend who has served the church where son, LJ4 is an active member in Ohio. And he speaks for many here —-

I’ve been reading Nadia Bolz-Webers’ response to a commentary by this guy named James Meador about why people stop going to church. (This post will be about church growth and stuff so most people will want to keep scrolling).

I’ve been hearing about this my whole career. I’ve been going to conferences and sitting through lectures about why it’s happening, who to blame and what to do about it. My conference poured into me as a young clergy person to teach me how to apply new strategies and models and boxes to try to grow a church because somehow that has become the most important thing. I joked early on that as a young clergy person that the annual conference Princess Lea’d me ‘help me Obi wan, you’re my only hope.’

Over the course of 15 years of ministry I am just tired of it all. Tired of trying the next thing, hearing a message that all we need to do is work harder, try more, do it like the church down the road. Tired of all the blame; that’s it’s a failure of leadership, the failure of a timid church, or it’s the moral failing of people who’ve walked away. I’m no longer interested in chasing a demographic of people to try to sell this this spiritual life that I find meaningful. I’m just not a very good spiritual entrepreneur with a business plan.

Awhile ago I was angsting about something related to work (surprise, surprise Robert is angsty) and a mentor of mine said something which I have tried to live ever since; he said: just keep doing the work and stay out of the results. It is a very simple summation of a historical spiritual practice call non-attachment. It is practice which transcends religious tradition. It is both Jesusy and Buddhisty. Mostly it’s just a spiritual necessity in this forge your own destiny, customize your life kind of world we live in.

It is a helpful practice for me. Stay unattached to any kind of outcomes, show up, pay attention, cooperate with the movement of love and justice in this world and then release the outcome- hand over the results, stay non-attached to the way I want it to go. It works a lot better for me. (Credit Dr. Elaine Heath whose teaching on this changed my spiritual life for the better).

So the church is dying. It will die. It has died again and again. And there is resurrection happening all the time too. I’m grateful I get to serve a church and get paid for it. It may not happen for the rest of my career but seeing into that future of above my pay grade. For now I’m just glad that there are people who want practice a Jesus centered spirituality in community with me. That’s sufficient for now. That grace is enough. And everytime I start to angst about it all I’ve just gotta stay in the moment, do the next right thing, keep doing the work of love and justice and stay out of the results.

—- So as a favorite book of mine in first grade asked and had as its title, “What Do You Say, Dear?“